Year 11 · 2025 syllabus · 30 marks · Suggested 45 min
Physics: mechanics and data
A focused assessment of vectors, motion graphs, forces, momentum and measurements. The 2025 syllabus starts Year 11 teaching in 2027; this pack matches the site's published 2025 lessons. Positive direction must be stated. This is not a whole-course paper.
Check your own evidence
Tick only criteria supported by your response. This is a self-assessment, not a teacher-awarded result or predicted HSC mark. Use the linked lessons to repair missing evidence.
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Question 1 (1 mark)
A runner travels 30 m east and then 10 m west. Which pair gives distance and displacement?
Answer and explanation
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Question 2 (1 mark)
On a velocity–time graph, which quantity is represented by signed area under the graph?
Answer and explanation
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Question 3 (1 mark)
A 2.0 kg trolley experiences a net horizontal force of 6.0 N. What is its acceleration?
Answer and explanation
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Question 4 (1 mark)
Two objects collide in a system with negligible external impulse. Which quantity must be conserved for the system?
Answer and explanation
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Question 5 (3 marks)
A trolley has constant velocity +3.0 m s⁻¹ for 4.0 s, then −2.0 m s⁻¹ for 3.0 s. Calculate its displacement, distance and average velocity over the full interval.
Marking criteria
Use these as evidence checkpoints. Award each point once; accept scientifically equivalent wording.
One possible response
Displacement = +12.0 − 6.0 = +6.0 m. Distance = 12.0 + 6.0 = 18.0 m. Average velocity is displacement divided by total time: +6.0/7.0 = +0.86 m s⁻¹.
Question 6 (3 marks)
A force of 10 N acts at 30° above the positive horizontal direction. Take upward as positive. Resolve the force into horizontal and vertical components.
Marking criteria
Use these as evidence checkpoints. Award each point once; accept scientifically equivalent wording.
One possible response
With right and up positive, Fx = 10 cos 30° = +8.66 N and Fy = 10 sin 30° = +5.0 N. The components are perpendicular projections, not additional forces.
Question 7 (3 marks)
A 0.50 kg trolley moving at +4.0 m s⁻¹ sticks to a stationary 1.50 kg trolley. Neglect external impulse. Calculate the common velocity and explain whether kinetic energy is conserved.
Marking criteria
Use these as evidence checkpoints. Award each point once; accept scientifically equivalent wording.
One possible response
Conservation of momentum gives 0.50(4.0) = 2.00v, so v = +1.0 m s⁻¹. Kinetic energy changes from 4.0 J to 1.0 J. The missing kinetic energy is transformed into deformation, thermal energy and sound; total energy is still conserved.
Question 8 (3 marks)
Use the synthetic position data to estimate velocity between 1.0 s and 3.0 s. Is the object moving at constant velocity across the entire table? Support your answer.
| Time (s) | Position (m) |
|---|---|
| 0 | 0 |
| 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 4 |
| 3 | 9 |
Marking criteria
Use these as evidence checkpoints. Award each point once; accept scientifically equivalent wording.
One possible response
The interval average is +4.0 m s⁻¹. Equal one-second intervals have increasing displacement, so the object does not have constant velocity. The calculated average does not describe its instantaneous velocity at every time.
Question 9 (3 marks)
A horizontal force sensor reads 5.0 N while friction exerts 1.0 N in the opposite direction on a 2.0 kg trolley. Calculate the acceleration and explain why using 5.0 N as the net force would be incorrect.
Marking criteria
Use these as evidence checkpoints. Award each point once; accept scientifically equivalent wording.
One possible response
Taking the applied-force direction as positive, Fnet = 5.0 − 1.0 = +4.0 N. The acceleration is +2.0 m s⁻². The sensor's 5.0 N is only one force, so using it alone neglects friction.
Question 10 (3 marks)
A speed measurement is reported as (2.40 ± 0.05) m s⁻¹, where the ± value is a stated measurement bound. Give its interval and percentage bound. Does this by itself show the result is accurate?
Marking criteria
Use these as evidence checkpoints. Award each point once; accept scientifically equivalent wording.
One possible response
The stated interval is 2.35–2.45 m s⁻¹ and the relative bound is about 2.1%. This describes the reported uncertainty, not demonstrated accuracy. Calibration against a suitable reference would help identify systematic error.
Question 11 (4 marks)
Design an investigation of the relationship between net force and acceleration for a trolley of fixed total mass. Explain four choices that would make the inference defensible.
Marking criteria
Use these as evidence checkpoints. Award each point once; accept scientifically equivalent wording.
One possible response
Use several measured net-force values while keeping total moving mass fixed. If masses drive a pulley, redistribute rather than simply add moving mass. Account for friction, measure acceleration consistently and repeat independent runs. Graph acceleration against net force; proportionality predicts a slope near 1/m and an intercept near zero, within the limitations.
Question 12 (4 marks)
A student says: ‘The velocity is negative, so the object must be slowing down.’ Evaluate this statement using examples of acceleration signs.
Marking criteria
Use these as evidence checkpoints. Award each point once; accept scientifically equivalent wording.
One possible response
The statement confuses direction with speed. For v = −4 m s⁻¹ and a = −2 m s⁻², velocity becomes more negative and speed increases. With a = +2 m s⁻², speed initially decreases until the object stops; if acceleration continues, it then moves positively. The sign depends on the chosen axis.