AQA AS Physics

Topic Questions

4.4 Newton’s Laws of Motion

11 mark

What is the Newton in SI base units?

  • kg m s–1

  • kg m s–2

  • kg m–1 s

  • kg–1 m s–1

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21 mark

A 1200 kg car is accelerating along a horizontal road.

q2_newtons-laws-of-motion_aqa-as-physics-mcq

What is the magnitude of the car’s resultant force and its direction?

 

Resultant force / N

Direction of resultant force

A

12 000

Right

B

19 000

Left

C

5000

Right

D

5000

Left

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31 mark

Two boxes, box 1 and box 2, each of different mass, are connected by a light, inextensible rope over a massless pulley.

q3_newtons-laws-of-motion_aqa-as-physics-mcq

Which row, A to D in the table, show pairs of forces which have the same magnitude in this system?

 

Force 1

Force 2

A

Tension in rope on box 1

Tension in rope on box 2

B

Weight of box 1

Weight of box 2

C

Contact force on box 1

Tension in rope on box 2

D

Weight of box 1

Mass of box 2

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41 mark

A cyclist pedals with a constant force forward until they reach terminal velocity (they no longer accelerate).

Which of the following is true at terminal velocity?

  • Driving force > Drag force

  • Driving force = Drag force

  • Driving force < Drag force

  • Driving force = 0 N

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51 mark

The resultant force acting on an object is 3.4 kN. The object has a mass of 17 kg. 

What is the acceleration of the object?

  • 200 m s–2

  • 0.2 m s–2

  • 5 m s–2

  • 0.005 m s–2

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61 mark

A resultant force acts on an object.

Which of the following quantities might change as a consequence of the resultant force?

  • speed

  • direction

  • shape

  • All of the above

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71 mark

A box is stationary on a slope.

q7_newtons-laws-of-motion_aqa-as-physics-mcq

What are the names of the forces A, B and C acting on the box?

 

Force A

Force B

Force C

A

Weight

Friction

Normal contact

B

Normal contact

Tension

Air resistance

C

Upthrust

Tension

Weight

D

Normal contact

Friction

Weight

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81 mark

“For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”.

Which law is this referring to?

  • Newton’s 1st Law

  • Newton’s 2nd Law

  • Newton’s 3rd Law

  • Newton’s 4th Law

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91 mark

A boxer hits a punching bag with her glove. In doing so, she exerts a force, called an ‘action’, on the punching bag.

What is the ‘reaction’ force in this system?

  • The punching bag moves backwards

  • The punching bag exerts a force on the glove

  • The punching bag exerts a force on the air

  • The Earth exerts a force on the boxer

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101 mark

A wooden sign is hanging in equilibrium.

Which of these free–body diagrams could represent the forces acting on the sign?

q10_newtons-laws-of-motion_aqa-as-physics-mcq

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11 mark

An object is stationary on an inclined slope at an angle θ to the horizontal. The frictional force along the slope is given by the equation:

frictional force = 0.34 × normal contact force

Which angle θ satisfies the equation given?

You may use the result:

tan space theta space fraction numerator sin space theta over denominator cos space theta end fraction

  • 19.9°

  • 70.1°

  • 18.8°

  • 71.2°

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21 mark

Newton’s third law concerns the forces interacting with two bodies.

Which of the following statements relating to Newton’s third law is incorrect?

  • The two forces are equal in magnitude

  • The two forces are equal and opposite so there is no resultant force 

  • The two forces are of the same type

  • The two forces are equal and opposite but do not cancel

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31 mark

Two heavy ornaments are connected together and suspended in the corner of a room by cables. The mass of m1 is three times greater than the mass of m2. The system is in equilibrium.

q23_newtons-laws-of-motion_aqa-as-physics-mcq

What is the mass of m1?

  • 60.2 kg

  • 71.5 kg

  • 20.1 kg

  • 23.8 kg

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41 mark

A van is parked on an icy slope and begins to slide with a constant acceleration of 1.2 m s–2. There is a resistive force up the slope R, given by the expression ‘R = 2 × mass’.

q24_newtons-laws-of-motion_aqa-as-physics-mcq

What is the angle θ of the slope to the horizontal?

  • 24.7°

  • 71.0°

  • 0.33°

  • 19.0°

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51 mark

A spherical oil drop of mass 0.2 g and surface area of 314 mm2 is falling vertically through water at a steady speed. The water has a viscosity η of 0.89 mPa s. The acceleration of freefall is g.

What gives the best estimate for the kinetic energy of the oil drop?

(The drag force on a falling sphere is given by Stokes’ Law: F = 6πr ηv)

  • 14 nJ

  • 55 mJ

  • 2.3 mJ

  • 55 nJ

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61 mark

Two non–identical blocks are joined by a thin cord of negligible mass and are released. The 210 g block initially has an acceleration of 4.0 m s–2 and 1.7 N of drag acts opposite to its motion. The overall drag force on the hanging block is 1.2 N.

q26_newtons-laws-of-motion_aqa-as-physics-mcq

What is the magnitude of the frictional force acting on the 210 g block?

  • 3.1 N

  • 4.0 N

  • 1.2 N

  • 0.33 N

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71 mark

A swimmer is sinking downwards with a constant acceleration. The only forces acting on them are weight, upthrust, and the force due to water resistance, WR.

The swimmer inflates their life jacket and their upthrust increases to 7 times its initial magnitude. This causes the swimmer to accelerate upwards with the same magnitude as initially. The magnitude of WR remains constant throughout.

What is the magnitude of the original upthrust acting on the swimmer?

  • 1.75 × weight

  • 1.75 × (weight – WR)

  • 0.25 × weight

  • 0.25 × (weight – WR)

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81 mark

A rocket takes off vertically by ejecting fuel downwards at a constant rate. Assume that g remains constant throughout the launch, and that the only forces acting on the rocket are its driving force and its weight.

 Which of these graphs shows the rocket’s acceleration–time graph during launch?

q28_newtons-laws-of-motion_aqa-as-physics-mcq

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91 mark

A 52 g conker is swung around in a vertical circle of radius 22 cm. It has a constant speed of 1.6 m s–1.

q29_newtons-laws-of-motion_aqa-as-physics-mcq

What is the ratio of  fraction numerator t e n s i o n blank i n blank t h e blank s t r i n g over denominator w e i g h t blank o f blank t h e blank c o n k e r end fraction at position X?

  • 2.2

  • 0.45

  • 0.19

  • 1.0

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101 mark

The diagram shows two masses, 15 kg and 20 kg respectively, joined by a light inextensible string which passes over a light frictionless pulley.

q30_newtons-laws-of-motion_aqa-as-physics-mcq

What is the acceleration of the masses the instant the 20 kg mass is released?

  • 1.4 m s-2

  • 0.5 m s-2

  • 9.8 m s-2

  • 6.0 m s-2

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11 mark

A car has a horizontal driving force of 8.0 kN acting on it and a resistive force a quarter of this size. It has a forward horizontal acceleration of 9.2 m s–2.

q11_newtons-laws-of-motion_aqa-as-physics-mcq

What is the mass of the car?

  • 870 kg

  • 650 kg

  • 1250 kg

  • 700 kg

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21 mark

In which of the following situations does the person concerned experience ‘weightlessness’?

  • In a lift accelerating vertically upwards

  • A parachutist descending at terminal velocity with the parachute fully open

  • An astronaut on the surface of the moon

  • Travelling over the top of a bump in a rollercoaster track at high speed

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31 mark

A wooden block rests on a rough board. The end of the board is then raised until the block accelerates down the plane.

q13_newtons-laws-of-motion_aqa-as-physics-mcq

Which row describes the forces acting on the block when it is accelerating?

 

frictional force on block

resultant force on block

A

down the plane

zero

B

up the plane

down the plane

C

up the plane

zero

D

down the plane

up the plane

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41 mark

A block of mass 2.11 kg is on a rough horizontal surface. A force of 25 N is applied to the block and it accelerates at 6.0 m s–2

q14_newtons-laws-of-motion_aqa-as-physics-mcq

What is the magnitude of the frictional force acting on the block?

  • 150 N

  • 12.3 N

  • 37.7 N

  • 16.8 N

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51 mark

Newton’s third law of motion is often summarised as

‘Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.’

A laptop rests on a table. If the weight of the laptop is the ‘action’ force, what is the ‘reaction’ force?

  • the push of the table on the laptop

  • the push of the laptop on the table

  • the pull of the Earth on the laptop

  • the pull of the laptop on the Earth

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61 mark

A bus is travelling forward at constant speed when a car collides with the bus perpendicularly to its direction of motion.

What is the effect of this force on the forward speed and sideways speed of this bus?

  • The forward speed increases and sideways speed increases

  • The forward speed decreases and sideways speed increases

  • The forward speed is unchanged and sideways speed increases

  • The forward speed decreases and sideways speed is unchanged

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71 mark

A rocket of mass 15 000 kg accelerates vertically upwards from the surface of the Earth at 2.5 m s-2.

What is the thrust produced by the rocket?

  • 1.8 × 105 N

  • 3.8 × 104 N

  • 2.4 × 105 N

  • 7.7 × 104 N

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81 mark

The planets in our solar system travel around the Sun in an approximately circular orbit. The force of gravity, which keeps them orbiting, is due to the gravitational attraction between the planets and the Sun.

What would happen if the gravitational force between the planets and the Sun were to suddenly disappear?

  • The planets spiral in towards the Sun

  • The planets would travel off into space in a curved path

  • The planets would follow an orbit closer to the Sun 

  • The planets would travel off into space along a straight line

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91 mark

A child playing in a toy car increases its speed from 2 m s-1 to 5 m s-1 in 3 s.

If the resultant force on the car is 40 N, what is the combined mass of the child and that car?

  • 15 kg

  • 10 kg

  • 40 kg

  • 32 kg

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101 mark

The mass of fuel in a racing car decreases during a race as it travels around multiple laps.

Which row describes what happens to its lap time and an explanation for this?

 

Lap time

Explanation

A

The lap time decreases

Maximum acceleration is greater

B

The lap time decreases

The engine is more efficient

C

The lap time increases

There is less friction on the race track

D

The lap time increases

Maximum deceleration is greater

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