Motion: past paper questions

Where the questions come from

• Question 3May/June 2026, paper 11Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The graph is the distance–time graph for the motion of a cyclist. Which statement describes the motion of the cyclist?

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• Question 3Oct/Nov 2025, paper 11Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The diagram shows the speed–time graphs for two objects moving with uniform acceleration.

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• Question 2Oct/Nov 2023, paper 11Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The diagram shows a distance–time graph for a car travelling in a straight line. In which region is the car decelerating?

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• Question 4May/June 2026, paper 11Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The speed–time graph shows the motion of a lift working in a tall building. At which of the points P, Q and R is the lift at rest?

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• Question 4Oct/Nov 2025, paper 11Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  Which speed–time graph represents the motion of a railway train making a short stop at a station?

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• Question 2May/June 2026, paper 12Multiple choice1 mark

  Which feature of a graph represents total distance travelled?

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• Question 3Oct/Nov 2025, paper 12Multiple choice1 mark

  Which equation defines acceleration?

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• Question 6Oct/Nov 2024, paper 11Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  An object falls without air resistance. Its position at equal time intervals is shown by a sequence of dots. Which sequence of dots is correct?

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• Question 2Oct/Nov 2023, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The diagram shows the distance–time graph of a car. The car is travelling along a straight road up a hill. Which quantity for the car is constant and greater than zero?

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• Question 3Oct/Nov 2024, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The graph shows the motion of a cyclist during a ride that lasts for 14 s. What is the average speed of the cyclist for the ride?

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• Question 3Oct/Nov 2023, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  A distance–time graph and a speed–time graph show the motion of an object.

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• Question 1May/June 2026, paper 21Structured8 marksHas a diagram

  A bus starts a journey with a uniform acceleration for the first 20 s. State what is meant by ‘uniform acceleration’.

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• Question 4Oct/Nov 2024, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The diagram shows how the velocity of a train varies with time. Which sections of the graph show where the magnitude of the velocity of the train is decreasing?

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• Question 6Oct/Nov 2023, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  A student drops, from rest, a light ball in air. The ball experiences some air resistance as it falls. What happens to the velocity and to the acceleration of the ball during the first few seconds after release?

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• Question 1Oct/Nov 2025, paper 22Structured9 marksHas a diagram

  A car travels along a straight horizontal road, initially at a constant speed. The speed–time graph in Fig. 1.1 shows the motion of the car from time $t=0$. At time $t=5.7\text{ s}$, the driver sees an obstruction in the road.

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• Question 2May/June 2024, paper 11Multiple choice1 mark

  Which quantity is a vector?

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• Question 2Oct/Nov 2023, paper 21Structured8 marks

  A lorry (truck) is at rest on a straight, horizontal road. A constant driving force of $5.4\times {10}^4\text{ N}$ acts on the lorry and it accelerates forwards. Define what is meant by ‘acceleration’.

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• Question 2May/June 2025, paper 11Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The speed–time graph shows part of the journey of a bicycle for a time of $10\text{ s}$. What is the distance that the bicycle travels in the $10\text{ s}$?

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• Question 3May/June 2024, paper 11Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The table shows the distance travelled by a car in each 2 s time interval during a 12 s period of its journey.

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• Question 1Oct/Nov 2023, paper 41Structured10 marksHas a diagram

  A student determines the speed of a wavefront on the surface of water. The student fills a plate with water and uses a dropping pipette to let one drop of water fall into the centre of the plate as shown in Fig. 1.1.

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• Question 3May/June 2025, paper 11Multiple choice1 mark

  Which statement explains why a heavy coin that falls through a short distance towards the ground does not reach terminal velocity?

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• Question 4Oct/Nov 2023, paper 42Essay6 marksHas a diagram

  A student investigates the average speed of a trolley moving along a horizontal bench. The trolley is placed on a ramp and released from rest. Some of the apparatus used is shown in Fig. 4.1.

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• Question 2May/June 2025, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The diagram shows the distance–time graph for a moving object. What is a description of the moving object?

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• Question 3May/June 2024, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The graph shows how the speed of a car travelling in a straight line changes with time. Which section shows the largest acceleration?

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• Question 3May/June 2025, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The speed–time graph for a falling skydiver is shown. As he falls, the skydiver spreads out his arms and legs and then opens his parachute. Which part of the graph shows the skydiver falling with terminal velocity?

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• Question 2May/June 2023, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  Which row describes acceleration, displacement, distance and speed?

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• Question 4May/June 2023, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The curved line on the distance–time graph shows the motion of a toy car. The straight line is the tangent to the curve at $10\text{ s}$. What is the speed of the toy car at $10\text{ s}$?

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• Question 6May/June 2025, paper 12Multiple choice1 mark

  There is no atmosphere on the Moon. Two metal spheres of identical volume but different mass are at rest at the same height above the ground on the Moon. The two spheres are dropped at the same time.

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• Question 1May/June 2024, paper 22Structured8 marksHas a diagram

  Fig. 1.1 shows two trolleys. On the front of trolley A, there is a wooden rod. Trolley B is initially at rest.

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• Question 9May/June 2023, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The stopping distance of a car is the sum of the thinking distance and the braking distance. Which factors affect the braking distance?

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