Physics Elementary Mechanics Exercise Workbook

1 - POSITION AND MOTION

SECTION A

A1. For each of the following situations, indicate whether chronological time (t) or a time interval (Dt)
describes the indicated value .

a) The meal lasted 30 minutes.

b) You will arrive at 3 o'clock.

c) The film finished at 11 a.m.

d) I drove for 2 hours.

e) The race lasted 2 minutes.

A2. Determine the missing values.

a) A stopwatch indicates 20 s at the start of an event and 30 s at its end. What is the duration of the event?

b) An event lasting 7.0 s ends when 24.6 s is indicated on a stopwatch. When did this event start ?

c) An event lasting 0.6 s begins 0.2 s after starting a stopwatch. What does the stopwatch read at the end of the event?

d) A clock indicates 13:04:27 at the end of an event which lasted 244.5 s. What time was it at the start of the event?

e) An event begins at 4.28 s and ends at 6.49 s. How many long was the event?

A3. Describe as precisely as possible the motion in each of the following situations.

a) An airplane on final approach, just before landing

b) The blade of a desktop fan in operation

c) A sprinter during the first 10 meters of a race

d) A soap bubble on the surface of the water flowing into the drain of a bathtub

e) The pendulum of a clock

f) A fly searching for a place to land

g) A drop of rain on a windless day

h) A basketball thrown towards a basket

i) A teacher in a classroom during a class.

j) The inflation valve of a tire on a moving car

 ANSWERS

SECTION A

A1
a) time interval (Dt) b) chronological time (t) c) chronological time (t)
d) time interval (Dt) e) time interval (Dt)

A2
a) Dt = 10 s b) t = 17.6 s c) t= 0.8 s d) t = 13 h 0 min 22.5 s e) Dt = 2.21 s

A3
Multiple possible answers for each question. To be discussed in class.
SECTION B

B1. A cyclist starts from a position located 75 m east of a reference position. He cycles 80 m eastward, then turns around
and stops 30 m west of his original position. The entire trip took place along a rectilinear trajectory.

Determine the following quantities.

a) The total displacement

b) The final position

c) The total distance traveled.

B2. Determine the missing values. All of the situations involve a body moving along a rectilinear trajectory in relation to
a fixed point of reference.

a) What distance is traveled by a body moving from the 3.3 m position to the 5.0 m position?

b) What is the final position of a body that started from the 5.0 m position and moved 1.7 m leftward?

c) Following a displacement of +10 m, a body is 6 m to the right of a reference point. What was its initial position?

d) A body moves from 6 m to the right to 4 m to the left of a reference point. What was the displacement?

e) A body starts at a position 2 m to the left of a reference point and travels 6 m away from the reference point.
What is the body's final position?

B3. In relation to a reference point, a body travels from the 100 km position to the -200 km position, and finally travels
to the -75 km position.

a) What was the total distance traveled?

b) What was the total displacement?

B4. Are the following quantities scalars or vectors?

a) speed b) volume c) average speed d) temperature

e) mass f) displacement g) position h) area

i) distance
 ANSWERS

SECTION B

B1
a) D𝑠⃗ = -30 m b) 𝑠⃗2 = 45 m c) d = 190 m

B2
a) Ds = 1.7 m b) $𝒔⃗2 = 3.3 m c) 𝒔$⃗1 = -4 m d) D𝒔
$⃗ = -10 m e) $𝒔⃗2 = -8 m

B3
a) d = 425 km b) D𝒔
$⃗ = -175 km

B4
Scalars : a) b) c) d) e) h) i) Vectors : f) g)
SECTION C

C1. Indicate if the position and velocity are positive, negative or zero for each of the following cases.
Use conventional (Cartesian) directions .

a) A body starting east of a reference point is moving eastwards.

b) An object is stationary north of the reference point.

c) A body moving west goes to the reference point.

d) An body falls vertically to the ground.

e) An automobile from Quebec is now in Ontario,

C2. A body moves 100 m in 9.6 s. What is its speed in km/h?

C3. What is the distance traveled by a car moving at 108 km/h west in 20 minutes ?

C4. A motorist leaves Boucherville at 8:45 am drives to Drummondville located 90 km further east.
He arrives at 9:30 a.m. Calculate the average speed (in km/h).

C5. An airplane flying at 910 km/h takes off from Montreal and travels 5 520 km to get to Paris. How long is the flight?

C6. A hiker walks towards the south, at a uniform speed of 1.5 m/s. How far did she travel after 1h30?

C7. A hockey player strikes a puck at 45 m/s from the blue line, located 19 m from the opposing goal.
How much time does the goalkeeper have to react and stop the puck?
Assume that the decrease in speed due to friction is negligible.

C8. Jean trains for a marathon. He runs for 16 km and then returns by walking along a straight path.
When he runs, he maintains a constant speed of 14 km/h, and he walks at a speed of 4 km/h.

a) How much time does a training session take?

b) Determine the average speed on the round trip.

c) What is his total displacement?

C9. Two friends are canoeing. When in calm water (non-flowing), they are able to move at a constant speed of 5 km/h.
One day they decide to paddle on a river. The river flows south at a speed of 2 km/h. They leave in the morning,
travel 10 km to the north and then stop for 1 hour for a picnic. They then return to their starting point. How long did the
trip take in total?
C10. A bird flies 15 m/s south in a southerly (blowing from the south towards the north) wind blowing at 15 m/s.
How far did the bird fly after 5 minutes?

C11. The Apollo XI astronauts left an Earth-oriented reflector on the Moon. Technicians on Earth directed a laser beam
at this reflector, which returned to its point 2.56 s later. The speed of light is 3 × 108 m/s. What is the distance between
the Earth and the Moon, in km?

C12. An car is traveling on a straight road. From the information provided, describe the movement and position of this
automobile.

a) 𝐬⃗ > 0 ; ∆𝐬⃗ > 0 b) 𝐬⃗ < 0 ; 𝐯$⃗ > 0 c) 𝐯$⃗ < 0 ; 𝐬⃗ > 0 d) ∆𝐬⃗ = 0 ; 𝐬⃗ < 0 e) 𝐬⃗ = 0 ; 𝐯$⃗ > 0

C13. A man can swim at 6 km/h in calm water. He swims in a river flowing south at a speed of 3 km / h. It descends the
river (in the direction of the current) in 5 minutes, and then returns to its starting point. What is his average speed over
the entire trip?

C14. George sees an airplane in the sky at point A as shown in the diagram to the right.

The plane goes from point A to point B in 30 s traveling at a speed of 850 km/h.

How high is the plane flying?

 ANSWERS
SECTION C

C1
a) s⃗ > 0, v$⃗ > 0 b) s⃗ > 0, v
$⃗ = 0 c) s⃗ = 0, v$⃗ < 0 d) s⃗ > 0, v
$⃗ < 0 e) s⃗ < 0, $v⃗ < 0

C2
v = 37.5 km/h

C3
Ds = 36 km [W]

C4
v = 120 km/h

C5
Dt = 6h03

C6
Ds = 8.1 km

C7
Dt = 0.42 s

C8
a) Dt = 5 h 08 b) V = 6.23 km/h c) D𝒔$⃗ = 0

C9
Dt = 5 h 46

C10
Ds = 0

C11
d = 384 000 km

C12
a) The car is moving towards the right, and is located to the right of the reference position.
b) The car moves towards the right, and is located to the left of the reference position.
c) The car is moving towards the left, and is located to the right of the reference position.
d) The car is located to the left of the reference position at its initial position.
e) The car is moving towards the right, and is located at the reference position.

C13.
v = 1.25 m/s (4.5 km/h)

C14.
h = 17.7 km
SECTION D

D1. We travel 10 km [N], then 24 km [E]. How far did we travel?

D2. Tourists wandering downtown walk two streets [N], three streets [E], one street [S], five streets [W], four streets [S]
and finally two streets [E]. What is their resulting displacement?

D3. Perform the following operations.

a) 5 m east + 12 m west b) 7.5m [E 40o N] + 4.5m [E 50 o S] c) 8.0 m [W] - 6.0 m [W]

d) 16.0 m [NW] - 6.0 m [W 30 o N] e) 50 km [W] + 100 km [E 30° N] f) 100 km [E 30° N] - 50 km [E]

D4. An airplane flies north in a storm at 100 m/s. There is an east wind blowing at 50 m/s.
What is the resulting speed of the aircraft?

D5. A series of four successive displacements (as shown

in the diagram to the right) begin at point O (100,200).
Determine the coordinates of the terminal point and the
resulting displacement. Scale: 1 square = 100 m

D6. Determine the resultant vector as represented in the diagram below. Scale: 1 square = 3 m/s

D7. The minute hand of a clock is 7 cm long. The second hand is 6 cm and the hour hand measures 4 cm.

a) Calculate the distance traveled and the displacement of the tip of the minute hand between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m.

b) What is the displacement of the tip of the hour hand between 3h and 6h?

c) How fast is the tip of the second hand moving?

 ANSWERS
SECTION D

D1
d = 34 km

D2
$⃗ = 3 streets [S]
Dd

D3
a) Dd$⃗ = 7 m [W]
b) Dd$⃗= 8.75 m [E 9o N]
c) Dd$⃗ = 2 m [W]
d) Dd$⃗= 10.3 m [N 36° W]
e) Dd$⃗ = 62 km [E 54° N]
$⃗ = 62 km [E 54° N]
f) Dd

D4
$⃗ = 112 m/s, [W 63 N]
v

D5
The final position is (-200 m, 700 m) with respect to the starting point,
and the displacement is Dd $⃗ = 583 m [W 59 EN]

D6
$⃗ = 23.4 m/s [E 40 ES]
v

D7
a) d = 132 cm Dd $⃗ = 0
b) Dd$⃗ = 5.66 cm [SW]
c) v = 0.63 cm/s
SECTION E

E1. A Toyota driving east passes by a Smart stopped along the road, then overtakes a truck traveling at a speed of
80 km/h. The speed of the Toyota is 30 km/h faster than the speed of the truck.

a) What is the relative speed of the Toyota compared to the truck?

b) What is the relative speed of the Toyota compared to the Smart?

c) What is the relative speed of the Smart compared to the truck?

d) What is the relative speed of a stone along the path compared to the Smart?

e) What is the absolute speed of the truck?

f) What is the speed of a traffic sign compared to the Toyota?

E2. A river flows south. A boat leaves the west shore at 10 m/s and maintains its course at [E 30o N]. The resulting
velocity vector is perpendicular to the current.

a) Calculate the speed of the current.

b) If the boat takes 10 minutes to cross, calculate the width of the river.

E3. On a beautiful summer day, a northwest wind blows at 30 km/h. A helicopter, according to its instruments is flying at
a speed of 150 km/h towards the northeast. The helicopter follows this course for 2 hours, then takes a new course
towards the east for an hour.

a) What is the distance traveled by the helicopter after two hours?

b) What is the total displacement of the helicopter?

E4. Isabelle travels 800 m east in a Sea-Doo, at 20 km/h, then she travels 600 m north at 30 km/h.

a) What distance did she travel (in km)?

b) What is Isabelle's displacement (in km)?

c) What is Isabelle's average speed, in km/h?

d) What is her average velocity, in km/h?

E5. After takeoff, an airplane travels east at 260 km/h as indicated by onboard instruments. After 2 hours of flight, the
airplane is 560 km [E 10 ° N] from its starting point. Determine the wind's velocity.
 ANSWERS
SECTION E

E1
a) 30 km/h
b) 110 km/h
c) -80 km/h
d) 0 km/h
e) 80 km/h
f) -110 km/h

E2
a) 5 m/s
b) 5200 m

E3
a) 306 km
b) 451 km [E 19O N]

E4
a) 1.40 km
b) 1.00 km [ E 53o N ]
c) 23.33 km/h
d) 16.67 km/h [ E 53o N ]

E5
51.1 km/h [E 72° N]