A 1000kg car accelerates from 0 to 20 m/s in 15 seconds. Calculate the acceleration of the car, the force required for this acceleration and the momentum of the car at 20 m/s.

The first part of the question, calculating the acceleration, uses the fact that acceleration equals the change in velocity divided by the time. In this case, the change in velocity is 20-0 and the time is 15 seconds, so 20/15 is 1.4. The units of acceleration are meters per second squared. To calculate the force we recall Newton's Second Law, F=ma, or force equals mass multiplied by acceleration. In this case F = 1000x1.4 or 1400. The units of force are Newtons (N). Finally, the momentum of the car at 20 m/s can be found using momentum equals mass multiplied by velocity. Here, we have 1000x20 = 20000 and the units are kilogram metres per second.

RM

Related Physics GCSE answers

All answers ▸

Why do you weigh less on the Moon than on Earth?


What is Newton's first law of motion?


A lorry is travelling around a roundabout at constant speed. Why is its velocity changing?


a )John heats up 2kg of water from 20 degrees c to 80 degrees c. How much energy input did this require? b )When John weighs the water at the end, he has less than he started with. Why might this be? c) What hazards are in this experiment?