State — 4 marks
A student is investigating the motion of a toy car rolling down a ramp. The car starts from rest at the top of the ramp and accelerates uniformly as it travels downwards. The student measures the distance travelled and the time taken to reach the bottom.
- (a) State what is meant by uniform acceleration. [1 mark]
- (b) The toy car travels 2.0 m in the first second. State the distance it travels in the second second if it is accelerating uniformly from rest. [2 marks]
- (c) State the name of the physical quantity that measures how quickly the velocity of the car is changing. [1 mark]
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- (a) Uniform acceleration is when velocity changes by the same amount in equal time intervals
- (a) OR: Constant acceleration / acceleration that does not change
- (b) 6.0 m (1 mark for correct numerical answer)
- (b) Using s = ut + ½at²: if s₁ = 2.0 m in first second, then a = 4 m/s², so s₂ = 0 + ½(4)(2²) - ½(4)(1²) = 8 - 2 = 6.0 m (1 mark for correct working or reasoning)
- (c) Acceleration