Physics Insight

Question pattern · Knowledge card

Multi-stage motion

Solve each motion stage separately, then carry the final velocity and position of one stage into the next before combining totals.

Primary skill
Calculate & apply
Original practice questions
1

Connect the ideas

Key relationships and graph reading

  • Boundary velocity: v(end of stage n) = u(start of stage n + 1)
  • Total distance and time are sums across stages
  • Whole-journey average speed = total distance / total time

Check your method

Three common mistakes

  1. Resetting velocity to zero between connected stages.
  2. Averaging the first and final speeds over a multi-stage journey.
  3. Combining distances before checking each stage boundary.

Original micro-example

Try the idea in miniature

A rider accelerates from rest to 2.0 m s⁻¹ in 4.0 s, travels at that speed for 3.0 s, then stops uniformly in 2.0 s. Find the total distance.

Show the short answer

The three velocity–time areas are 4.0 m, 6.0 m and 2.0 m, giving 12 m in total.

Original practice questions

Practise this question pattern

The pattern describes the reasoning structure. Each link below opens a distinct original practice question.