AP Physics Practice Test - Motion in One-Dimension - Free-Fall and Kinematics Problems

Sep 30, 2026

Upload by Ben

AP Physics practice test focused on one-dimensional kinematics and motion graphs. It includes multiple-choice problems covering free-fall from rest, horizontal projectile motion, conditions at the highest point of a trajectory, piecewise acceleration with changing motion, and finding acceleration from a position-versus-time equation. Free-response tasks extend to interpreting bounce data from a wall, rocket motion with engine cutoff, total flight time, and designing a friction-minimized ramp-and-floor experiment with required materials, procedures, data tables, and data analysis for acceleration and velocity.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Part I. Multiple Choice

Motion and kinematics questions

Part II. Free Response

Graphing, velocities, accelerations, and experimental design

AP Physics Practice Test: Motion in One-Dimension This test covers one-dimensional kinematics, including speed, velocity, acceleration, motion graphs, with some problems requiring a knowledge of basic calculus. Part I. Multiple Choice 1. A rock is released from rest from the top of a very high cliff, and accelerates downward at g. Approximately how far does the rock travel in the first 7 seconds of its free-fall? (Assume no air friction.) a. 35 m b. 70 m c. 180 m d. 245 m e. 490 m 2. A projectile is fired horizontally from a height of 20 meters above the ground, with an initial velocity of 7.0 m/s. How far does the projectile travel horizontally before it reaches the ground? a. 7m b. 14m c. 140m d. 3. 5m e. 20m 3. An object is launched into the air at an angle less than 90° above the surface of the earth. Air resistance is negligible. At the highest point in its path of motion, which of the following statements is true? a. It has no vertical velocity and no vertical acceleration. b. It has no horizontal velocity and no vertical acceleration. c. It has vertical velocity and no horizontal acceleration. d. It has horizontal velocity and no vertical acceleration. e. It has no vertical velocity and no horizontal acceleration. 4. A particle begins from rest at a point +10 meters from the origin at time t = 0, and begins accelerating ata constant 2 m/s2 in the negative direction. At time t = 4 seconds, the particle has reached a certain speed; it stops accelerating, and continues traveling with that same speed until t = 7 seconds. What is its position relative to the origin at t = 7 seconds? a. -6 meters b. -30 meters c. -8 meters d. -40 meters e. -59 meters 5. An object moving along the x-axis has its position given by the equation x = 2.0t2 − 3.0t + 4 , with x in meters and tin seconds. What is the acceleration of the object at time t = 4.0s? a. 24 m/s2 b. 46 m/s2 c. 13 m/s2 d. 16 m/s2 e. 4.0 m/s2 AP Physics Practice Test: Motion in One-Dimension 6. A mass is dropped from a height h above the ground, and freely falls under the influence of gravity. Which graphs here correctly describe the displacement and velocity of the object during the time the object is falling? Consider the "up" direction to be positive. a. b. c. d. e. displacement displacement displacement displacement displacement time 0 0 time 0 time 0 time 0 time 0 time 0 time 0 time 00 time velocity 00 time velocity AP Physics Practice Test: Motion in One-Dimension Part II. Free Response 7. A 50-gram superball is thrown horizontally in the negative-x direction against a brick wall so that it bounces directly back after hitting the wall. (The vertical motion of the ball during the throw is negligible.) The horizontal position of the ball’s center of mass as a function of time is described in the data table below. | x-position relative to wall (centimeters) | 25 | 20 | 15 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 22 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | t (milliseconds) | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 24 | a. Draw a graph of the ball’s position as a function of time. b. Determine the ball’s initial velocity before coming into contact with the wall? c. Determine the ball’s final velocity after bouncing off the wall? d. What is the ball’s average acceleration during the time period when the ball’s velocity is changing, from 6 to 16 ms? AP Physics Practice Test: Motion in One-Dimension e. Use the graph to determine the ball’s instantaneous velocity at time t = 10 ms. Explain briefly how you arrived at your answer. 8. A rocket, initially at rest, is fired vertically upward with an acceleration of 12.0 m/s2. At an altitude of 1.00 km, the rocket engine cuts off. Air friction is negligible in this problem. a. How fast is the rocket traveling when the engine cuts off?

FAQs

What topics are tested in this one-dimension motion section?

The test covers one-dimensional kinematics including speed, velocity, acceleration, and motion graphs, with some questions using basic calculus concepts.

How do the free-response questions assess understanding?

They require graphing position vs. time from a data table, extracting initial and final velocities from a bounce, computing average and instantaneous acceleration, and solving rocket motion with cutoff and subsequent free-fall.

What does the experimental-design question require you to produce?

You must list common classroom/lab materials, describe an ordered procedure to measure acceleration on the ramp and velocity on the floor without electronic sensors, create labeled data tables, and explain how to analyze the collected data for each surface.

Sep 30, 2026

Upload by Ben