Motion graphs and SUVAT: Edexcel International A Level Physics questions

Every Edexcel International A Level Physics exam question on Motion graphs and SUVAT (specification points 1–3), 2019–2025, with its mark scheme and examiner’s report.

All 83 questions on Motion graphs and SUVAT, as a list

June 2025, AS Unit 1, Q6 (1 mark): An object has a constant non‑zero acceleration. Which of the following displacement‑time graphs could represent the motion of the object? Displacement Displacem
June 2025, AS Unit 1, Q12(b) (3 marks): The velocity‑time graph for part of the bicycle ride is shown. 6 4 Velocity / m s–1 2 0 0 10 20 30 40 Time / s Determine the maximum acceleration of the person
June 2025, AS Unit 1, Q13 (3 marks): In a game of basketball, points are scored by throwing a ball so that it falls through a hoop. The rules state that the distance d between the hoop and the floo
June 2025, AS Unit 1, Q20(a) (4 marks): The initial vertical velocity of the skydiver was zero. During the first 1.5 s, the skydiver moved a vertical distance of 11 m. Air resistance may be considered
June 2025, AS Unit 1, Q20(b) (2 marks): The displacement‑time graph for the skydiver between jumping from the aeroplane and opening his parachute is shown. Time / s 0 5 10 15 20 25 0 –200 –400 Vertica
January 2025, AS Unit 1, Q2 (1 mark): A coin and a feather are dropped from the same height, through air. Which row of the table is correct as the coin and feather fall to the ground? Initial accele
January 2025, AS Unit 1, Q5 (1 mark): An aeroplane lands on a runway at time 0 and then decelerates. The graph shows how the deceleration of the aeroplane varies with time. Deceleration 0 t Time Whi
January 2025, AS Unit 1, Q7 (1 mark): A student drops a ball and measures the time taken for the ball to reach the ground. He repeats this for different heights. He uses a graphical method to determ
January 2025, AS Unit 1, Q8 (1 mark): The velocity-time graph for a train journey is shown. 2v Velocity v 0 t 2t Time Which of the following expressions gives the distance travelled by the train in
January 2025, AS Unit 1, Q12 (3 marks): A person on skis slides down a slope. The slope is at an angle of 14° to the horizontal. The initial speed of the person is 7.1 m s −1, as shown. –1 7.1 m s 14
January 2025, AS Unit 3, Q1(b)(i) (2 marks): Determine the mean value of t. (2) Mean value of t =
January 2025, AS Unit 3, Q1(c) (3 marks): Describe a method the student could use to determine the acceleration a of the toy car. (3)
January 2025, Unit 6, Q4(c)(i) (2 marks): Determine the student’s value of g. (2) g =
October 2024, AS Unit 1, Q3 (1 mark): The displacement-time graph for a person running a race is shown. 45 40 35 30 25 Displacement / km 20 15 10 5 0 0 1 2 3 4 Time taken / hours Which of the follow
October 2024, AS Unit 1, Q14(a) (2 marks): She took one photograph using a strobe app on a mobile phone. She took a second photograph using a laboratory strobe. The time interval between flashes was the
October 2024, AS Unit 1, Q14(b)(i) (2 marks): Explain why a graph of s against t 2 gives a straight line. (2)
October 2024, AS Unit 1, Q14(b)(ii) (2 marks): The student plotted a graph of s against t 0.35 0.30 0.25 0.20 s / m 0.15 0.10 0.05 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 t2 / s2 Determine the acceleration of free fal
October 2024, AS Unit 1, Q19(b)(i) (2 marks): The diver was at the surface of the sea at 0 s. Explain how the graph could be used to show that the diver reached the surface of the sea again at 82 s. (2)
October 2024, AS Unit 1, Q19(b)(ii) (3 marks): Determine the vertical acceleration of the diver at 70 seconds. (3) Acceleration =
October 2024, Unit 4, Q16(a)(i) (2 marks): The ball accelerates uniformly across the gap between the first strip and the second strip in 0.22 s. Show that the acceleration of the ball is about 0.8 m s–2.
June 2024, AS Unit 1, Q2 (1 mark): The graph shows how the velocity of an object varies with time. Velocity Time Which of the following describes the motion of the object? A constant acceleration
June 2024, AS Unit 1, Q8 (1 mark): A student is determining the acceleration of free-fall, g. The student uses a stopwatch to measure the time taken for a ball bearing to fall a measured distance
June 2024, AS Unit 1, Q13(a) (3 marks): Show that car A and car B are side by side after a time of about 1.1 s. (3)
June 2024, AS Unit 1, Q13(b) (3 marks): At the instant shown, car A is 100 m from the finish line. Deduce whether car A reaches the finish line before car B. (3)
January 2024, AS Unit 1, Q5 (1 mark): A student dropped a table tennis ball. The ball fell for time t and had velocity v just before it hit the ground. The student used the equations of motion to ca
January 2024, AS Unit 1, Q10 (1 mark): An object moves from rest with uniform acceleration for time t. The acceleration-time graph for the object is shown. X is the area under the graph between time
January 2024, AS Unit 1, Q14(a)(i) (3 marks): Explain why the equations of motion should not be used to determine the maximum speed of the child. You should consider the shape of the slide. (3)
January 2024, AS Unit 1, Q16(a) (3 marks): The graph shows how the velocity of the skittle varies with time. The time shown on the graph starts just before the ball hits the skittle. 3.0 2.5 2.0 –1 Veloc
October 2023, AS Unit 1, Q4 (1 mark): A ball falls through air from rest. Which of the following shows the graph of displacement against time for the ball? Displacement Displacement Time 0 Time 0 A
June 2023, AS Unit 1, Q6 (1 mark): A student determined the acceleration of free fall g. She measured the time t for a ball bearing to fall from rest through a distance s. She repeated this for a
June 2023, AS Unit 1, Q7 (1 mark): A car travels with a velocity of 3 m s–1. The car accelerates uniformly in a straight line for a distance of 15 m. The final velocity of the car is 5 m s–1. Whi
June 2023, AS Unit 1, Q11 (3 marks): A rock falls from rest through a small distance s to the surface of Mars. The rock hits Mars with velocity vM. Another rock falls from rest through distance s t
June 2023, AS Unit 1, Q12(a)(i) (1 mark): State how the graph shows that the man’s initial vertical velocity is zero. (1)
June 2023, AS Unit 1, Q12(a)(ii) (2 marks): Determine the vertical velocity of the man as he enters the water. (2) Vertical velocity =
June 2023, AS Unit 1, Q12(b) (2 marks): Before entering the water, the man has a constant vertical acceleration. After entering the water, the man has a constant vertical deceleration. Draw the veloci
January 2023, AS Unit 1, Q4 (1 mark): A student measures the time taken for a steel ball bearing to fall a measured distance in air. The student uses these measurements to determine the acceleration
January 2023, AS Unit 1, Q5 (1 mark): A racing car passes point P at a speed of 35 m s −1. The car accelerates uniformly and after 5.0 s passes point Q at a speed of 50 m s −1, as shown. P Q t = 0.0
January 2023, AS Unit 1, Q7 (1 mark): A person threw a ball vertically up in the air and caught the ball a few seconds later. The graph of vertical displacement against time for the ball is shown. D
January 2023, AS Unit 3, Q4(a)(i) (2 marks): Determine the mean value of time in s. (2) Mean value of time = s
January 2023, AS Unit 3, Q4(b) (2 marks): The student adjusted the launching device to vary the mean force F applied to the car. For larger values of F there was a greater percentage uncertainty in the
October 2022, AS Unit 1, Q1 (1 mark): Which of the following quantities is given by the area under a velocity-time graph? A acceleration B displacement C speed D time taken
October 2022, AS Unit 1, Q4 (1 mark): A car accelerated along a straight road. The graph shows how the acceleration of the car varied with time. Acceleration Time Which of the following graphs shows
June 2022, AS Unit 1, Q5 (1 mark): A student determined a value for g by dropping a metal sphere from rest. The student measured the distance fallen and the time taken for the sphere to fall. The
June 2022, AS Unit 1, Q8 (1 mark): The velocity‑time graph shows the motion of a particle with a constant acceleration. P, Q and R represent the magnitudes of each area shown. Velocity P R 0 Q Ti
June 2022, Unit 5, Q20(a)(i) (2 marks): A lead sphere falls through a distance of 41.5 m. Show that it takes about 3 s for the lead sphere to fall through this distance. Assume that resistive forces a
January 2022, AS Unit 1, Q1 (1 mark): A student walks for 6 seconds. The displacement-time graph for the student is shown. displacement / m 2 1 0 2 4 6 time / s –1 Which row of the table shows the f
January 2022, AS Unit 1, Q3 (1 mark): The velocity-time graph for a particle is shown. velocity time Which of the following is the displacement-time graph for this particle? displacement displacemen
January 2022, AS Unit 1, Q5 (1 mark): An object on the Moon falls a vertical distance of 0.32 m, from rest, in a time of 0.63 s. Which of the following expressions gives the acceleration due to grav
January 2022, AS Unit 3, Q1(a) (2 marks): The light gate was connected to a data logger. The data logger recorded the time taken for the card to pass through the light gate. Describe how the student cou
January 2022, AS Unit 3, Q1(b)(i) (3 marks): Calculate the mean value for v and the percentage uncertainty in v. (3) Mean v = m s–1 Percentage uncertainty in v = %
January 2022, AS Unit 3, Q1(b)(ii) (2 marks): The student measured the distance s that the trolley travelled on the ramp. Determine the acceleration of the trolley on the ramp. s = 1.50 m (2) Acceleration =
January 2022, Unit 6, Q4(d)(i) (2 marks): Determine a value for g. (2) g =
October 2021, AS Unit 1, Q1 (1 mark): Graphs can be used to represent the motion of an object. Quantity Time Which row in the table gives a quantity plotted on the y‑axis and the corresponding quant
October 2021, AS Unit 1, Q7 (1 mark): A ball bearing falls vertically from rest through a distance of 50 cm in a time of 0.32 s. Which expression gives the acceleration of the ball bearing in m s–2?
October 2021, AS Unit 1, Q13(b)(ii) (2 marks): Determine the speed of the sledge at the end of the slope. (2) Speed at end of slope =
October 2021, AS Unit 1, Q13(b)(iii) (2 marks): Determine the time taken for the sledge to travel to the end of the slope. (2) Time taken =
June 2021, AS Unit 1, Q7 (1 mark): Two objects with the same initial speed fall from the same height in a vacuum chamber, as shown. The arrows in the diagram show initial directions of travel of
June 2021, AS Unit 1, Q12(b) (4 marks): Determine the time taken by the object to move from point A to point C. (4) Time taken =
January 2021, AS Unit 1, Q1 (1 mark): A car is moving towards a stop sign at a speed of 25 m s−1. The driver applies the brakes 20 m before the sign and decelerates uniformly to rest just before the
January 2021, AS Unit 1, Q3 (1 mark): The graph shows how the acceleration a of an object varies with time t. a t Which of the following graphs shows how the velocity v of the object varies with t?
January 2021, AS Unit 1, Q4 (1 mark): A student measures the time t taken for a ball bearing to fall different measured distances s from rest. The student uses his measurements to plot a graph with
January 2021, AS Unit 3, Q1(a) (5 marks): The air track is a long metal tube with holes along its length. Air from a blower enters the tube and escapes through the holes, minimising friction between the
October 2020, AS Unit 1, Q7 (1 mark): A student used a falling sphere to determine the acceleration of free-fall g. The sphere was released from rest. Which two quantities would require the fewest m
October 2020, AS Unit 1, Q9 (1 mark): Which of the following correctly describes the motion of the ball? A The ball is dropped and rebounds to its original position. B The ball is dropped and reboun
October 2020, AS Unit 1, Q10 (1 mark): Which of the following graphs of displacement against time could represent the motion of the ball? time time A B time time C D A B C D
January 2020, AS Unit 1, Q5 (1 mark): Two objects P and Q are at the same position at time t = 0 s. The graphs show how the velocity v varies with time t for each object. v / m s−1 v / m s−1 1 1 t /
January 2020, AS Unit 1, Q6 (1 mark): A ball is travelling horizontally at a speed of 7.0 m s−1. The ball hits a vertical wall and rebounds along its initial path at a speed of 5.0 m s−1. The ball h
January 2020, AS Unit 1, Q11 (5 marks): A student carried out an experiment to measure the acceleration of free-fall g. A ball bearing was released from position A. The time t for the ball bearing to
January 2020, AS Unit 1, Q15(a) (2 marks): Show that the velocity of the ball immediately before the bounce is about 3 m s−1. (2)
January 2020, AS Unit 1, Q16(a)(i) (2 marks): Determine the maximum height after popping. (2) Maximum height =
January 2020, AS Unit 1, Q16(a)(ii) (3 marks): Calculate the initial speed of the ‘popped’ popcorn kernel. (3) Initial speed =
June 2019, AS Unit 1, Q8 (1 mark): A model rocket is launched and moves vertically upwards while still burning fuel to give a constant upwards thrust. The fuel runs out, and the rocket reaches th
June 2019, AS Unit 1, Q13(a) (4 marks): Draw a corresponding velocity-time graph for the motion of the swimmer on the axes below. Show all working in the space below. (4) Time / s 0 60
June 2019, AS Unit 1, Q13(b)(i) (2 marks): Sketch onto the axes below to show the actual variation of displacement with time for the first 15 m of the race. (2) 0 Time / s
June 2019, AS Unit 1, Q13(b)(ii) (2 marks): Explain one other way in which the motion of the swimmer has been simplified when drawing the displacement-time graph. (2)
June 2019, AS Unit 1, Q18(b)(ii) (3 marks): Water falls from a leaf at a steady rate of five drops per second. As each drop reaches the ground, there are four drops above it in the air. Calculate the heig
January 2019, AS Unit 1, Q6 (1 mark): A ball is thrown vertically upwards. Which row of the table correctly describes the magnitude of the initial acceleration of the ball and the magnitude of the a
January 2019, AS Unit 1, Q11 (3 marks): The graph shows how the velocity of an object varies with time. 20 10 time / s 0 5 10 15 20 –10 –20 –30 Describe how the acceleration of the object varies with
January 2019, AS Unit 1, Q12(a) (2 marks): State the additional measurements the student should take. (2)
January 2019, AS Unit 1, Q12(b) (2 marks): Describe how the velocity v of the wooden rod as it passes through the light gate can be determined accurately. (2)
January 2019, AS Unit 1, Q12(c) (3 marks): Describe how the student can determine a value for g using a graphical method. (3)
January 2019, AS Unit 1, Q16(a)(i) (2 marks): Show that the average vertical deceleration of the probe due to the parachute was about 11 m s–2. (2)
January 2019, AS Unit 1, Q16(b) (6 marks): The probe was in ‘free fall’ from a height of 3.7 km, reaching the surface of Mars with a velocity of 150 m s–1. Explain whether the term ‘free fall’ is correct

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