Displacement, Velocity & Acceleration — MH-CET Physics MCQs with Solutions
Free MH-CET Physics Displacement, Velocity & Acceleration MCQs with step-by-step solutions (21 questions). Part of Motion in a Plane (Std 11). Practise online on Prepizo — no login needed.
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Questions with solutions
Q1 — Displacement, Velocity & Acceleration · easy · theory
Distance and displacement differ in that displacement is:
A. A vector giving the shortest path from start to finish ✓ Correct
B. Always greater than the distance
C. Always equal to the distance
D. A scalar giving the total path length
Solution: Distance depends on the path taken; displacement depends only on the end points.
Q2 — Displacement, Velocity & Acceleration · easy · theory
Speed and velocity differ in that velocity:
A. Cannot be negative
B. Is a vector, so its direction matters ✓ Correct
C. Is a scalar, unlike speed
D. Is always greater than speed
Solution: A body may move at constant speed yet have changing velocity if its direction changes.
Q3 — Displacement, Velocity & Acceleration · medium · theory
Average velocity over an interval is defined as:
A. Total displacement divided by total time ✓ Correct
B. The velocity at the midpoint of the interval
C. The mean of the initial and final speeds
D. Total distance divided by total time
Solution: Average speed uses distance instead, so the two need not be equal.
Q4 — Displacement, Velocity & Acceleration · easy · theory
Acceleration is defined as the:
A. Product of velocity and time
B. Rate of change of displacement with time
C. Rate of change of velocity with time ✓ Correct
D. Rate of change of speed with distance
Solution: Because velocity is a vector, a change of direction alone constitutes an acceleration.
Q5 — Displacement, Velocity & Acceleration · easy · theory
A body moving with uniform velocity has:
A. Zero acceleration ✓ Correct
B. Variable velocity
C. Constant non-zero acceleration
D. Increasing acceleration
Solution: Uniform velocity means both the magnitude and the direction are unchanging.
Q6 — Displacement, Velocity & Acceleration · medium · theory
The displacement of a body over a complete round trip is:
A. Equal to the distance travelled
B. Always negative
C. Twice the distance travelled
D. Zero, though the distance travelled is not ✓ Correct
Solution: Returning to the starting point means the net change in position is nil.
Q7 — Displacement, Velocity & Acceleration · medium · theory
For any motion, the magnitude of the displacement is:
A. Always greater than the distance travelled
B. Always equal to the distance travelled
C. Unrelated to the distance travelled
D. Less than or equal to the distance travelled ✓ Correct
Solution: They are equal only when the motion is along a straight line without reversal.
Q8 — Displacement, Velocity & Acceleration · medium · theory
A body moving in a circle at constant speed has:
A. Zero acceleration
B. Constant velocity
C. Constant acceleration in both magnitude and direction
D. Constant speed but changing velocity ✓ Correct
Solution: The direction of motion changes continuously, so the velocity vector changes.
Q9 — Displacement, Velocity & Acceleration · hard · numerical
A body moves along a circle of radius $r$ and completes half a revolution. Its displacement and distance travelled are respectively:
A. $2r$ and $\pi r$ ✓ Correct
B. $2\pi r$ and $2r$
C. Zero and $\pi r$
D. $\pi r$ and $2r$
Solution: The displacement is the diameter $2r$, while the path length is half the circumference.
Q10 — Displacement, Velocity & Acceleration · medium · numerical
A body completes one full revolution around a circle of radius $r$. Its displacement and distance are respectively:
A. $2\pi r$ and zero
B. Zero and $2\pi r$ ✓ Correct
C. Zero and zero
D. $2r$ and $2\pi r$
Solution: It returns to the starting point, so the displacement vanishes while the distance is the full circumference.
Q11 — Displacement, Velocity & Acceleration · easy · numerical
A body covers $100\text{ m}$ in $20\text{ s}$. Its average speed is:
A. $50\text{ m/s}$
B. $2000\text{ m/s}$
C. $5\text{ m/s}$ ✓ Correct
D. $0.2\text{ m/s}$
Solution: Average speed $= \dfrac{100}{20} = 5\text{ m/s}$.
Q12 — Displacement, Velocity & Acceleration · easy · numerical
A body accelerates uniformly from rest to $20\text{ m/s}$ in $4\text{ s}$. Its acceleration is:
A. $0.2\text{ m/s}^2$
B. $80\text{ m/s}^2$
C. $4\text{ m/s}^2$
D. $5\text{ m/s}^2$ ✓ Correct
Solution: $a = \dfrac{v - u}{t} = \dfrac{20 - 0}{4} = 5\text{ m/s}^2$.
Q13 — Displacement, Velocity & Acceleration · medium · numerical
A body travels $3\text{ m}$ east and then $4\text{ m}$ north. Its displacement is:
A. $1\text{ m}$
B. $7\text{ m}$
C. $5\text{ m}$ ✓ Correct
D. $12\text{ m}$
Solution: The two legs are perpendicular, so the resultant is $\sqrt{9 + 16} = 5\text{ m}$.
Q14 — Displacement, Velocity & Acceleration · easy · numerical
A body undergoes a displacement of $5\text{ m}$ in $2\text{ s}$. Its average velocity is:
A. $0.4\text{ m/s}$
B. $5\text{ m/s}$
C. $2.5\text{ m/s}$ ✓ Correct
D. $10\text{ m/s}$
Solution: Average velocity $= \dfrac{5}{2} = 2.5\text{ m/s}$ in the direction of the displacement.
Q15 — Displacement, Velocity & Acceleration · easy · numerical
A speed of $72\text{ km/h}$ expressed in metre per second is:
A. $18\text{ m/s}$
B. $36\text{ m/s}$
C. $20\text{ m/s}$ ✓ Correct
D. $25\text{ m/s}$
Solution: $72 \times \dfrac{5}{18} = 20\text{ m/s}$.
Q16 — Displacement, Velocity & Acceleration · easy · numerical
A body speeds up uniformly from $5\text{ m/s}$ to $25\text{ m/s}$ in $4\text{ s}$. Its acceleration is:
A. $6.25\text{ m/s}^2$
B. $20\text{ m/s}^2$
C. $5\text{ m/s}^2$ ✓ Correct
D. $1.25\text{ m/s}^2$
Solution: $a = \dfrac{25 - 5}{4} = 5\text{ m/s}^2$.
Q17 — Displacement, Velocity & Acceleration · medium · numerical
A man walks from his home to the market and returns. His average velocity for the whole journey is:
A. Half his average speed
B. Equal to his average speed
C. Twice his average speed
D. Zero ✓ Correct
Solution: The displacement over the round trip is zero, so the average velocity is zero however fast he walked.
Q18 — Displacement, Velocity & Acceleration · easy · numerical
A body moves at a steady $15\text{ m/s}$ for $10\text{ s}$. The distance covered is:
A. $1.5\text{ m}$
B. $150\text{ m}$ ✓ Correct
C. $75\text{ m}$
D. $25\text{ m}$
Solution: Distance $= vt = 15 \times 10 = 150\text{ m}$.
Q19 — Displacement, Velocity & Acceleration · hard · numerical
A car covers the first half of a journey at $30\text{ km/h}$ and the second half at $60\text{ km/h}$. Its average speed for the whole journey is:
A. $36\text{ km/h}$
B. $40\text{ km/h}$ ✓ Correct
C. $45\text{ km/h}$
D. $50\text{ km/h}$
Solution: For equal distances the average is the harmonic mean: $\dfrac{2 \times 30 \times 60}{30 + 60} = 40\text{ km/h}$.
Q20 — Displacement, Velocity & Acceleration · medium · numerical
A body moving at $20\text{ m/s}$ is brought to rest in $5\text{ s}$. Its acceleration is:
A. $-4\text{ m/s}^2$ ✓ Correct
B. $-0.25\text{ m/s}^2$
C. $-100\text{ m/s}^2$
D. $+4\text{ m/s}^2$
Solution: $a = \dfrac{0 - 20}{5} = -4\text{ m/s}^2$; the minus sign denotes retardation.
Q21 — Displacement, Velocity & Acceleration · medium · numerical
A body has a constant speed but a continuously changing direction. Its acceleration is:
A. Zero
B. Constant in direction
C. Equal to its speed
D. Non-zero ✓ Correct
Solution: A changing velocity direction means a non-zero rate of change of velocity.