Meadowbrook High School

Physics

Grade 11

Vectors and Scalars

Instruction: Answer ALL questions.

1. A motorcar travelled from rest and its velocity over an 80-second period was measured. The
results are shown in Table 1.
TABLE 1

Velocity, v (ms-1) 0 30 30 30 0
Time, t (s) 0 20 40 60 80
Point A B C D E

(a) Plot the graph of velocity against time. (7 marks)

(b) Use the graph to determine EACH of the following:

(i) The acceleration during the interval AB

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(4 marks)

(ii) The velocity of the motorcar after 70 seconds (with the aid of dotted lines)

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(1 mark)

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 (iii) The total distance travelled over the 80 second period

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(9 marks)

(c) From your graph, describe the velocity of the vehicle over the period BC.

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(1 mark)

(d) This question investigated how velocity varied with time. Define the term ‘velocity’.

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(3 marks)

C.X.C. Jan. 2016 Total 25 marks

2
2. (a) (i) Give the difference between a ‘vector quantity’ and a ‘scalar quantity’.

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(1 mark)

(ii) Complete Table 2 by writing EACH of the physical quantities from the list below
in the appropriate column:

Mass, Momentum, Displacement, Heat Capacity, Temperature, Half-Life,

TABLE 2

Vector Scalar
Mass

(6 marks)

(b) A taxi reaches a police officer while travelling at 30 m s-1 on the highway. The officer
signals the taxi which decelerates uniformly and comes to a complete stop in 5 s.
(Assume zero reaction time.)

(i) In the space below, draw a velocity-time graph to represent the motion of the
taxi from the moment the officer signals, to when the taxi comes to a stop.

(2 marks)

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(ii) Determine the distance travelled by the taxi from the time the police signals
until the taxi stops.

(3 marks)

(iii) If the speed limit is 80 km h-1, determine whether or not the driver should
receive a speeding ticket.

(3 marks)

C.X.C. 2009 Total 15 marks