IB · IB Physics

IB Physics: Forces and momentum — Practice Questions & Answers

660 practice questions available for this topic — here are 10 with full answers and explanations.

Start an interactive quiz on Forces and momentum →

Practice questions with answers

1 Multiple choice · Easy

A resultant force of $10\,\text{N}$ acts on a $2.0\,\text{kg}$ mass. What is its acceleration?

Tap an answer to check it.

WhyBy Newton's second law $a=\frac{F}{m}=\frac{10}{2.0}=5.0\,\text{m s}^{-2}$.
2 Multiple choice · Easy

A car of mass $1500\,\text{kg}$ moves at $20\,\text{m s}^{-1}$. What is its momentum?

Tap an answer to check it.

WhyMomentum $p=mv=1500\times 20=3.0\times 10^{4}\,\text{kg m s}^{-1}$.
3 Multiple choice · Medium

A constant force of $50\,\text{N}$ acts for $0.20\,\text{s}$. What is the impulse delivered?

Tap an answer to check it.

WhyImpulse $=F\Delta t=50\times 0.20=10\,\text{N s}$, equal to the change in momentum.
4 Multiple choice · Hard

A $2.0\,\text{kg}$ trolley moving at $3.0\,\text{m s}^{-1}$ collides with and sticks to a stationary $1.0\,\text{kg}$ trolley. What is their common velocity afterward?

Tap an answer to check it.

WhyConserving momentum: $2.0\times 3.0=(2.0+1.0)v$, so $v=\frac{6.0}{3.0}=2.0\,\text{m s}^{-1}$.
5 Multiple choice · Medium

A $0.50\,\text{kg}$ ball moves in a circle of radius $2.0\,\text{m}$ at $4.0\,\text{m s}^{-1}$. What centripetal force is required?

Tap an answer to check it.

Why$F=\frac{mv^{2}}{r}=\frac{0.50\times 4.0^{2}}{2.0}=\frac{8.0}{2.0}=4.0\,\text{N}$.
6 Multiple choice · Easy

A book rests on a table. According to Newton's third law, the reaction to the book's weight (Earth pulling book) is:

Tap an answer to check it.

WhyNewton's third law pairs act on different bodies and are the same type of force. The reaction to Earth pulling the book is the book pulling the Earth (gravitational).
7 Fill in the blank · Easy

The product of a force and the time for which it acts is called the .

Answer: impulse

WhyImpulse $=F\Delta t$, which equals the change in momentum $\Delta p$.
8 Fill in the blank · Medium

The total momentum of a system is conserved when the net external force on it is .

Answer: zero / 0

WhyConservation of momentum follows from Newton's laws: with zero net external force, $\frac{\Delta p}{\Delta t}=0$.
9 Multiple choice · Medium

A block of mass m slides down a smooth plane inclined at angle theta to the horizontal. The net force along the plane is

Tap an answer to check it.

WhyThe component of weight along the plane is mg sin theta, the only force along a frictionless plane.
10 Multiple choice · Medium

On a frictionless incline of angle theta, the acceleration of a sliding object is independent of

Tap an answer to check it.

WhyFrom a = g sin theta, the acceleration does not depend on the mass of the object.

Ready to test yourself?

Practise Forces and momentum with instant marking and per-topic score tracking.

Start the Forces and momentum quiz →

Practise other IB Physics topics