AP Physics 1 Free Response Question for Kinematics

👋 Welcome to the AP Physics Unit 1 FRQ (Kinematics). These are longer questions, so grab some paper and a pencil, or open up a blank page on your computer. After you finish, you can see how you did with Unit 1 FRQ (Kinematics) Answers.

⏱ The AP Physics 1 exam has 5 free-response questions, and you will be given 90 minutes to complete the FRQ section. (This means you should give yourself ~18 minutes to go through each practice FRQ.)

• 🤔 Need a quick refresher of the unit as a whole? Check out the Unit 1 Overview.
• • 😩 Getting stumped halfway through answering? Look through all of the available Unit 1 Resources.

Learning Objectives and Science Practices

• 3.A.1.1 Express the motion of an object using narrative, mathematical, and graphical representations. [SP 1.5, 2.1, 2.2]
• 4.A.2.1 Make predictions about the motion of a system based on the fact that acceleration is equal to the change in velocity per unit time, and velocity is equal to the change in position per unit time. [SP 6.4]
• 4.A.2.3 Create mathematical models and analyze graphical relationships for acceleration, velocity, and position of the center of mass of a system and use them to calculate properties of the motion of the center of mass of a system. [SP 1.4, 2.2]

Reference Video

Flipping Physics: Walking Position, Velocity and Acceleration as a Function of Time Graphs

Setup

A student of mass m stands on a platform scale in an elevator in a tall building. The positive direction for all vector quantities is upward. The vertical position of an elevator as a function of time is shown below. The velocity at 6 seconds is -30 m/s.

Questions

(a) On the grid below, plot the velocity of the elevator as a function of time.

(b) Calculate the average acceleration for the time period t = 2s to t = 4s.

Setup

An inspector provides the student with the following graph showing the acceleration (a) of the elevator as a function of time (t).

Questions

(c) During what time interval(s) is the speed of the elevator constant? How do you know? 

Answers & Rubric

💯 Ready to see how you did? Take a look at the Unit 1 FRQ (Kinematics) Answers.