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AS Daily A Level Physics question

2026-04-11 OCR A Kinematics (Module 3) OCR A Physics A Module 3.1.1: Kinematics — velocity–time graphs, acceleration, equations of motion (suvat) OCR A Physics A Module 3.1.2: Projectile motion — independence of perpendicular components

In a lab, a student rolls a small steel ball off a bench 1.25 m high. It lands 0.80 m from the base. She repeats the trial, launching the ball horizontally at 1.5 times the original speed from the same height. Air resistance is negligible. Which statement must be true?

  1. A The time to reach the floor increases by 50% (to about 0.76 s) while the horizontal range stays about 0.80 m.
  2. B The horizontal range increases by 50% (to about 1.2 m) while the time to hit the floor is unchanged. (correct)
  3. C The speed on impact increases by 50% because both horizontal and vertical components scale with launch speed.
  4. D The vertical speed on impact increases by 50%, but the horizontal range is unchanged because the height is the same.

Answer

The correct answer is B.

Correct: B — The horizontal range increases by 50% (to about 1.2 m) while the time to hit the floor is unchanged. Time of flight depends only on the vertical drop (same height ⇒ same time), so increasing horizontal launch speed by 1.5 scales the horizontal distance by 1.5: 0.80 m × 1.5 ≈ 1.2 m. A is wrong because the fall time does not depend on horizontal speed, and keeping the range at 0.80 m contradicts launching faster. B is correct as it uses independence of vertical and horizontal motion and proportional scaling of range with horizontal speed. C is wrong because the vertical component of impact speed is unchanged; the resultant speed rises only slightly (about 5.2 m/s to 5.5 m/s), not by 50%. D is wrong because the vertical impact speed is set by height (unchanged), while the horizontal range must increase in proportion to the increased horizontal speed.

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