AP Physics C: Mechanics : Interpreting Linear Motion Diagrams
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP Physics C: Mechanics
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Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Interpreting Linear Motion Diagrams
A guillotine blade weighing 
What is the the approximate mass of the guillotine blade?
The force of gravity on the blade is 
This unit relationship comes from Newton's second law.
Solve the expression by plugging in known values.
Example Question #2 : Interpreting Linear Motion Diagrams
A guillotine blade weighing 
What is the tension on the rope pulling the blade, while it is accelerating into position?
The tension in the rope is the sum of the forces acting on it. If one considers that the net force on an object must equal the mass of the object times the acceleration of the object, the net force on the object must be the force due to tension from the rope minus the force due to gravity.
Rearrange the equation.
Plug in known values.
Example Question #2 : Interpreting Linear Motion Diagrams
Two objects moving in one dimension created the following velocity vs. time graph:
From the graph above, what is true about the two objects at time 
They are at the same position
They are both at rest (not moving)
They are moving at the same speed
One object is passing the other
They have travelled the same distance from their starting positions
They are moving at the same speed
Since this is a graph of velocity and not position, the curves intersect where the velocities match. Since we do not know the starting position, we do not know where the objects are relative to one another.
Example Question #22 : Linear Motion
Two objects moving in one dimension created the following velocity vs. time graph:
From the graph above, which object has traveled a greater distance from its starting position when 
None of these
They have travelled an equal distance
It cannot be determined from the graph
Object 1
Object 2
Object 1
Since this is a graph of velocity vs. time, its integral is distance travelled. We can estimate the integral by looking at the area under the curves. Since Bbject 1 has a greater area under its velocity curve, it has covered a greater distance. Its velocity is greater that Object 2's for the entire time, so it makes sense that it will travel farther.
Example Question #2 : Interpreting Linear Motion Diagrams
An object is moving in two dimensions. Its vertical motion relative to the horizontal motion is described by the equation 
The y velocity is the time derivative of the 
Of course,
Example Question #2 : Interpreting Linear Motion Diagrams
Atwood's machine consists of two blocks connected by a string connected over a
pulley as shown. What is the acceleration of the blocks if their masses are 
Assume the pulley has negligible mass and friction.
From the force diagram above, we can see that tension 
If we add the two equations together, we get:
where
Solving for 
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