ESAT (Engineering and Science Admissions Test) · Physics

Mechanics

20 practice questions, each with the answer and an explanation.

Practise Mechanics now

Random questions from this topic, one at a time. You see the answer and the explanation straight after each one.

All 20 questions

  1. A car moving at accelerates uniformly at for . How far does it travel in this time?
  2. A van is pushed along a level road by a resultant force of . What is its acceleration?
  3. A trolley moving at collides with a stationary trolley and they stick together. What is their common speed after impact?
  4. A car travels at a steady with its engine delivering a useful power of . What is the driving force?
  5. A box rests on a smooth slope at to the horizontal (take ). What force parallel to the slope is needed to hold it in place?
  6. A mass moves in a horizontal circle of radius at a constant speed of . What is the resultant (centripetal) force on it?
  7. A uniform plank of weight rests on a pivot from one end. A downward force at that nearer end keeps the plank level. What is ?
  8. A book rests on a table. The weight of the book and the normal contact force from the table on the book are equal and opposite. Which force is the Newton's third law pair of the book's weight?
  9. A boat can travel at relative to still water. It heads directly across a river flowing at . What is its speed relative to the bank?
  10. A satellite is moved to an orbit with four times the orbital radius. By what factor does its orbital period change?
  11. A cyclist starts from rest and reaches after of constant acceleration. What is the acceleration?
  12. A ball travelling at hits a wall and rebounds at in the opposite direction. What is the magnitude of the change in momentum?
  13. A object falls freely from rest through (take , ignoring air resistance). What is its speed just before it lands?
  14. A spring of constant is stretched by . How much elastic energy is stored?
  15. A ball is thrown horizontally at from a cliff high (take , no air resistance). How far from the base of the cliff does it land?
  16. A skydiver falls at constant terminal velocity. Which statement about the forces on the skydiver is correct?
  17. A pendulum bob is released from rest at a height of above the lowest point of its swing (take , ignore air resistance). What is its speed at the lowest point?
  18. A projectile is launched at at above the horizontal from level ground (take , no air resistance). What is its maximum height?
  19. A planet has the same mass as the Earth but half its radius. If at the Earth's surface is , what is the gravitational field strength at the planet's surface?
  20. The current through a fixed resistor is doubled. By what factor does the power dissipated in it change?

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