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IB Physics/A.1 Kinematics/Knowledge card

Question pattern · Knowledge card

Uniform acceleration basics

Choose one interval where acceleration is constant, define a positive direction and connect the known motion quantities with the shortest valid equation chain.

Primary skill
Calculate & apply
Original practice questions
1

Connect the ideas

Key relationships and graph reading

  • a = (v − u) / t
  • v = u + at
  • s = (u + v)t / 2
  • v² = u² + 2as

Check your method

Three common mistakes

  1. Mixing signs from different positive directions.
  2. Using constant-acceleration equations when acceleration changes.
  3. Using final speed as the average speed without checking the conditions.

Original micro-example

Try the idea in miniature

A cart speeds up uniformly from 3.0 m s⁻¹ to 7.0 m s⁻¹ in 2.0 s. Find its acceleration and displacement.

Show the short answer

a = (7.0 − 3.0) / 2.0 = 2.0 m s⁻². The average velocity is 5.0 m s⁻¹, so s = 5.0 × 2.0 = 10 m.

Original practice questions

Practise this question pattern

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

Easy2 marks

Uniform acceleration basics

Calculate & apply

Start original question →
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Uniform acceleration basics | A.1 Knowledge Card | Physics Insight