1. 1
   A cyclist rides due north along a straight, flat cycle path. A data logger fitted to the bicycle records the distance travelled and the time taken at regular intervals during the journey. Over the first 120 seconds, the cyclist travels 600 m due north at a constant rate before slowing down and stopping.

   (a)

   Which row correctly classifies each quantity as a scalar or a vector?
   
   A. Speed = vector, Velocity = scalar
   B. Speed = scalar, Velocity = vector
   C. Speed = scalar, Velocity = scalar
   D. Speed = vector, Velocity = vector

   [1 mark]

   • ASpeed = vector, Velocity = scalar
   • BSpeed = scalar, Velocity = scalar
   • CSpeed = scalar, Velocity = vector
   • DSpeed = vector, Velocity = vector

   (b)

   What is the cyclist's average speed during the first 120 seconds?

   [1 mark]

   • A0.2 m/s
   • B5 m/s
   • C7200 m/s
   • D72,000 m/s

   (c)

   State the cyclist's velocity during the first 120 seconds, and explain why this description is more complete than stating the speed alone.

   [2 marks]

   Total for question 1: 4 marks

2. 2
   A student investigates the motion of a trolley released from rest at the top of a sloped runway. Two light gates are fixed 0.80 m apart along the runway. A card of length 0.05 m is attached to the top of the trolley. The light gates record that the card takes 0.10 s to pass through gate 1 and 0.04 s to pass through gate 2.

   (a)

   A student uses a set of light gates to measure the speed of a trolley on a runway. Which of the following best describes why light gates give a more precise measurement of speed than using a stopwatch and metre ruler?

   [1 mark]

   • ALight gates measure the time taken for a known length of card to pass through the beam, removing human reaction time error
   • BLight gates measure the mass of the trolley directly
   • CLight gates automatically calculate the acceleration due to gravity
   • DLight gates remove the need to know the distance travelled by the trolley

   (b)

   What is the speed of the trolley as it passes through light gate 2?

   [1 mark]

   • A0.4 m/s
   • B1.25 m/s
   • C2.0 m/s
   • D8.0 m/s

   (c)

   Calculate the acceleration of the trolley between light gate 1 and light gate 2. Use the speeds found from the card passing through each gate and the fact that the trolley takes 0.91 s to travel between the two gates.

   [2 marks]

   Total for question 2: 4 marks

3. 3
   A car undergoes a braking and acceleration test on a straight, flat, private test track. Starting from rest, the car accelerates uniformly and reaches a velocity of 24 m/s after travelling 144 m. The engineers then plot the car's motion during this stage on a velocity–time graph, which shows a straight line rising steadily from the origin.

   (a)

   A car accelerates uniformly from rest and reaches a velocity of 24 m/s after travelling 144 m along a straight, flat test track. Use the equation v² − u² = 2 × a × x to calculate the car's acceleration.

   [3 marks]

   (b)

   Explain how the engineers could use the velocity–time graph described above to find both the car's acceleration and the distance it travelled during this stage of the test. Your answer should refer to the gradient and the area of the graph.

   [4 marks]

   Total for question 3: 7 marks

4. 4
   A group of students is asked to design an experiment to determine the speed of a toy car as it rolls down a ramp of adjustable steepness, using light gates and a metre ruler as their only measuring equipment. They plan to test the toy car at three different ramp angles.

   (a)

   Describe a method the students could use to obtain reliable speed data for the toy car at three different ramp angles, including how they would improve the reliability of their results.

   [6 marks]

   (b)

   The students collect their results and find that as the ramp angle increases, the toy car's speed at the light gate also increases. Explain, in terms of forces and energy, why increasing the ramp angle causes the toy car to have a greater speed at the bottom of the ramp, and suggest one way the students could check whether their results are affected by friction.

   [6 marks]

   Total for question 4: 12 marks

End of questions