Newton’s Laws

AP 1
Practice Multiple-Choice Test

Multiple Choice
Identify the choice(s) that best completes the statement or answers the question.

1. Mary and Debra stand on a snow-covered roof. They both throw snowballs with the same initial speed,
but in different directions. Mary throws her snowball downward, at 30° below the horizontal; Debra throws
her snowball upward, at 30° above the horizontal. Which of the following statements are true about just
as the snowballs reach the ground below? Neglect the effects of air. (Mark two answers.)
a) Debra's snowball will have a higher speed than Mary's snowball.
b) Mary's snowball will have a higher speed than Debra's snowball.
c) Both snowballs will hit the ground with the same speed.
d) Both snowballs hit the ground at the same time.
e) Mary's snowball reaches the ground before Debra's snowball.
2. A car goes around a circular curve on a horizontal road at constant speed. Which of the following are
correct? (Mark two answers.)
a) No force causes the car to do this because the car is traveling at constant
speed and therefore has no acceleration.
b) The friction force exerted by the road on the car causes the car to follow the
circular path.
c) The direction of the friction force exerted on the car by the road
perpendicular to the curve inward.
d) The direction of the friction force exerted on the car by the road tangent to
the curve in the forward direction.

3. The figure shows the velocity versus time curve for a car traveling along a straight line. Which of the
following statements is false?

a) No net force acts on the car during interval B.

b) Net forces act on the car during intervals A and C.
c) Opposing forces may be acting on the car during interval B.
d) Opposing forces may be acting on the car during interval C.
e) The magnitude of the net force acting during interval A is less than that
during C.
4. A rock is suspended from a string; and it moves downward at constant speed. Which one of the following
statements is true concerning the tension in the string if air resistance is not ignored?
a) The tension is zero newtons.
b) The tension points downward.
c) The tension is equal to the weight of the rock.
d) The tension is less than the weight of the rock.
e) The tension is greater than the weight of the rock.
5. A 9.0-kg hanging weight is connected by a string over a pulley to a 5.0-kg block sliding on a flat table. If
the coefficient of sliding friction is 0.19, find the tension in the string. Let g = 9.8 m/s2.
b

a) 59.0 N
b) 67.5 N
c) 20.7 N
d) 37.5 N

6. When a car goes around a banked circular curve at the proper speed for the banking angle, what force
cause it to follow the circular path? Select two answers.
a) the component of the normal force exerted by the road on the car
b) the component of the friction force exerted by the road on the car
c) the force that Earth exerts on the car
d) no force causes the car to do this because the car is traveling at constant
speed and therefore has no acceleration.

7. A 1500-kg car rounds an unbanked curve with a radius of 52 m at a speed of 12.0 m/s. What minimum
coefficient of friction must exist between the road and tires to prevent the car from slipping? (g = 9.8 m/s 2)
a) 0.024
b) 0.23
c) 0.28
d) 1.2

8. At what angle (relative to the horizontal) should a curve 52.0 m in radius be banked if no friction is
required to prevent the car from slipping when traveling at 11.6 m/s? (g = 9.80 m/s 2)
a) 0.264°
b) 1.30°
c) 14.8°
d) 2.59°

9. You are standing in a moving bus, facing forward, and you suddenly fall forward as the bus comes to an
immediate stop. The force acting on you that causes you to fall forward is
a) the force of gravity.
b) the normal force due to your contact with the floor of the bus.
c) the force due to static friction between you and the floor of the bus.
d) the force due to kinetic friction between you and the floor of the bus.
e) No forces were acting on you to cause you to fall.
10. Block A and block B move toward each other on a level frictionless track. Block A has mass m and
velocity +v. Block B has mass 2m and velocity -v. The blocks collide, and during the collision the
magnitude of the net force exerted on block A is F. What is the magnitude of the net force exerted
on block B, and why does it have that value?
a) 2F, because the mass of block B is twice that of block A and the blocks
have the same acceleration during the collision.
b) F/2, because the mass of block B is twice that of block A and the blocks
have the same acceleration during the collision.
c) F, because the blocks have the same speed immediately before the
collision.
d) F, because the net force is equal to the mutual contact force between the
blocks.

Use the following information to answer the next question.

The graph above shows velocity v as a function of time t for a 0.50 kg object traveling along a
straight line. The graph has three segments labeled 1, 2, and 3. A rope exerts a constant force of
magnitude FT on the object along its direction of motion the whole time. During segment 2 only, a
frictional force of magnitude Ff is also exerted on the object.

11. Which of the following expressions correctly relates the magnitudes F f and FT?
a) Ff < FT
b) Ff = FT
c) FT < Ff < 2 FT
d) Ff = 2 FT

12. A car moving at a steady 10 m/s on a level highway encounters a small hill that has a circular cross-
section with a radius of 30 m. The car maintains its speed over the bump. What is the force exerted by
the seat of the car on a 60.0-kg passenger when the car is at the top of the small hill?
a) 200 N
b) 390 N
c) 790 N
d) 490 N
e) 590 N
 Use the following information to answer the next 2 questions.

The inclined plane in the figure above has two sections of equal length and different roughness. The
dashed line shows where section 1 ends and section 2 begins. A block of mass M is placed at
different locations on the incline. The coefficients of kinetic and static friction between the block and
each section are shown in the table below.

13. If the block is at rest on section 1 of the incline, what is the magnitude of the force of static friction
exerted on the block by the incline?
a) S1Mgcos
b) S1Mgtan
c) Mgsin
d) Mgtan

14. If the block is sliding up section 2, what is the magnitude of the force of friction that is exerted on
the block by the incline?
a) 2kMgcos
b) 2kMg tan
c) Mgsin
d) Mgtan

15. An object moves in the eastward direction at constant speed. A net force directed northward acts on the
object for 5.0 s. At the end of the 5.0-second period, the net force drops to zero newtons. Which one of
the following statements is necessarily true?
a) The object will be moving eastward when the force drops to zero newtons.
b) The final velocity of the object will be directed north of east.
c) The change in the velocity of the object will be directed north of west.
d) The direction of the object's acceleration depends on how fast the object
was initially moving.
e) The magnitude of the object's acceleration depends on how fast the object
was initially moving.
16. A series of unbalanced forces was applied to each of two blocks, A and B. The graphs below show the
relationship between unbalanced force and acceleration for each block.

Compared to the mass of block A, the mass of block B is

a) the same.
b) twice as great.
c) half as great.
d) four times as great.

17. Box A of mass m sits on the floor of an elevator, with box B of mass 2m on top of it, as shown in the
figure below.

The elevator is moving upward and slowing down. FA is the magnitude of the force exerted on box A
by box B, FB is the magnitude of the force exerted on box B by box A, and Fg is the magnitude of the
gravitational force exerted on box B. Which of the following ranks the forces in order of increasing
magnitude?
a) FB = FA = Fg
b) (FB = FA) < Fg
c) FB < (FA = Fg)
d) Fg < FB < FA
18. To analyze the characteristics and performance of the brakes on a 1500 kg car, researchers collected
the data shown in the table below.

It shows the car’s speed when the brakes are first applied and the corresponding braking distance
required to stop the car. The magnitude of the average braking force on the car is most nearly
a) 75,000 N
b) 30,000 N
c) 12,000 N
d) 1600 N

Horse and Cart

A horse pulls a cart along a flat road. Consider the following four forces that arise in this situation.
(1) the force of the horse pulling on the cart
(2) the force of the cart pulling on the horse
(3) the force of the horse pushing on the road
(4) the force of the road pushing on the horse

19. Which two forces form an "action-reaction" pair that obeys Newton's third law?
a) 1 and 4
b) 1 and 3
c) 2 and 4
d) 3 and 4
e) 2 and 3

20. Suppose that the horse and cart have started from rest; and as time goes on, their speed increases in the
same direction. Which one of the following conclusions is correct concerning the magnitudes of the
forces mentioned above?
a) Force 1 exceeds force 2.
b) Force 2 is less than force 3.
c) Force 2 exceeds force 4.
d) Force 3 exceeds force 4.
e) Forces 1 and 2 cannot have equal magnitudes.
21. A small plane climbs with a constant velocity of 250 m/s at an angle of 28° with respect to the horizontal.
Which statement is true concerning the magnitude of the net force on the plane?
a) It is equal to zero newtons.
b) It is equal to the weight of the plane.
c) It is equal to the magnitude of the force of air resistance.
d) It is less than the weight of the plane but greater than zero newtons.
e) It is equal to the component of the weight of the plane in the direction of
motion.
22. A block of mass M is held motionless on a frictionless inclined plane by means of a string attached to a
vertical wall as shown in the drawing.

What is the magnitude of the tension T in the string?

a) 0N
b) Mg
c) Mgcosθ
d) Mgsinθ
e) Mgtanθ

23. In the figure, a block of mass M hangs at rest. The rope that is fastened to the wall is horizontal and has
a tension off 52 N. The rope that is fastened to the ceiling has a tension of 91 N, and makes an angle θ
with the ceiling. What is the angle θ?

a) 55°
b) 35°
c) 30°
d) 63°
e) 45°
24. The three blocks in the figure are on a frictionless surface. If F = 48.0 N, m1 = 2.0 kg, m2 = 1.5 kg, and m3
= 3.5 kg, what is the tension in the cord?

a) 24.0 N
b) 6.86 N
c) 13.7 N
d) 32.0 N
25. The figure shows a 100-kg block being released from rest from a height of 1.0 m. It then takes it 0.90 s to
reach the floor. What is the mass m of the other block? The pulley has no appreciable mass or friction.

a) 60 kg
b) 54 kg
c) 48 kg
d) 42 kg
26. Three spring scales are attached along a straight line as shown. The scale on the left is attached to a
wall. A force of 15 N is applied to the scale at the right.

What is the reading on the middle scale?

a) 0N
b) 45 N
c) 10 N
d) 5N
e) 15 N
27. In a carnival ride, passengers stand with their backs against the wall of a cylinder. The cylinder is set into
rotation and the floor is lowered away from the passengers, but they remain stuck against the wall of the
cylinder. For a cylinder with a 2.0-m radius, what is the minimum speed that the passengers can have so
they do not fall if the coefficient of static friction between the passengers and the wall is 0.25?
a) 8.9 m/s
b) 2.3 m/s
c) 3.0 m/s
d) 4.9 m/s
e) It depends on the mass of the passengers.
28. A circus performer of weight W is walking along a "high wire" as shown. The tension in the wire is:

a) approximately W
b) approximately W/2
c) much less than W
d) much more than W
e) depends on whether he stands on one or two feet
29. A boy is whirling a stone around his head by means of a string. The string makes one complete
revolution every second, and the tension in the string is F T. The boy then speeds up the stone, keeping
the radius of the circle unchanged, so that the string makes two complete revolutions every second.
What happens to the tension in the sting?
a) The tension is unchanged.
b) The tension reduces to half of its original value.
c) The tension increases to twice its original value.
d) The tension increases to four times its original value.
e) The tension reduces to one-fourth of its original value.

Answers:
1. C, E 7. C 13. C 19. D 25. A
2. B, C 8. C 14. A 20. B 26. E
3. E 9. E 15. B 21. A 27. A
4. D 10. D 16. B 22. D 28. D
5. D 11. C 17. B 23. A 29. D
6. A,B 12. B 18. C 24. A