Motion Under Gravity — NEET Physics MCQs with Solutions
Free NEET Physics Motion Under Gravity MCQs with step-by-step solutions (37 questions). Part of Motion in 1 Dimension. Practise online on Prepizo — no login needed.
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Questions with solutions
Q1 — Motion Under Gravity · easy · theory
A body is dropped from rest. The distance it falls in $2$ s is (take $g = 10$ m/s²)
A. $10$ m
B. $20$ m ✓ Correct
C. $40$ m
D. $5$ m
Solution: $h = \frac{1}{2}gt^2 = \frac{1}{2}\times10\times4 = 20$ m.
Q2 — Motion Under Gravity · easy · numerical
A body falls freely from rest. Its velocity after $3$ s is ($g = 10$ m/s²)
A. $30$ m/s ✓ Correct
B. $45$ m/s
C. $10$ m/s
D. $90$ m/s
Solution: $v = gt = 10\times3 = 30$ m/s.
Q3 — Motion Under Gravity · medium · numerical
A body dropped from rest has fallen $20$ m. Its speed at that point is ($g = 10$ m/s²)
A. $20$ m/s ✓ Correct
B. $10$ m/s
C. $40$ m/s
D. $200$ m/s
Solution: $v = \sqrt{2gh} = \sqrt{2\times10\times20} = 20$ m/s.
Q4 — Motion Under Gravity · easy · theory
A ball is thrown up at $20$ m/s. The maximum height reached is ($g = 10$ m/s²)
A. $40$ m
B. $80$ m
C. $20$ m ✓ Correct
D. $10$ m
Solution: $H = \frac{u^2}{2g} = \frac{400}{20} = 20$ m.
Q5 — Motion Under Gravity · easy · theory
A ball is thrown up at $30$ m/s. The time to reach the highest point is ($g = 10$ m/s²)
A. $1.5$ s
B. $3$ s ✓ Correct
C. $6$ s
D. $9$ s
Solution: $t = \frac{u}{g} = \frac{30}{10} = 3$ s.
Q6 — Motion Under Gravity · medium · theory
A ball thrown up at $20$ m/s returns to the point of projection. The total time of flight is ($g = 10$ m/s²)
A. $2$ s
B. $4$ s ✓ Correct
C. $8$ s
D. $1$ s
Solution: $T = \frac{2u}{g} = \frac{40}{10} = 4$ s (2 s up + 2 s down).
Q7 — Motion Under Gravity · easy · theory
At the highest point of a ball thrown vertically upward,
A. Velocity is zero but acceleration is $g$ downward ✓ Correct
B. Both velocity and acceleration are zero
C. Acceleration reverses
D. Velocity is maximum
Solution: The ball pauses momentarily but gravity never switches off — the famous conceptual trap.
Q8 — Motion Under Gravity · easy · theory
A ball is thrown up with speed $u$ and returns to the same point (no air resistance). Its return speed is
A. Greater than $u$
B. Less than $u$
C. Zero
D. $u$ ✓ Correct
Solution: Symmetry of free flight: it lands with the same speed it left with, directed downward.
Q9 — Motion Under Gravity · easy · theory
A stone is dropped from a tower of height $45$ m. The time it takes to reach the ground is ($g = 10$ m/s²)
A. $2$ s
B. $4.5$ s
C. $9$ s
D. $3$ s ✓ Correct
Solution: $45 = \frac{1}{2}\times10\times t^2 \Rightarrow t^2 = 9 \Rightarrow t = 3$ s.
Q10 — Motion Under Gravity · medium · theory
A body falls freely from rest. The distance it covers in the $3$rd second is ($g = 10$ m/s²)
A. $25$ m ✓ Correct
B. $30$ m
C. $15$ m
D. $45$ m
Solution: $s_n = \frac{g}{2}(2n-1) = 5\times5 = 25$ m.
Q11 — Motion Under Gravity · medium · numerical
A stone is dropped from $80$ m. Its speed on hitting the ground is ($g = 10$ m/s²)
A. $80$ m/s
B. $4$ m/s
C. $40$ m/s ✓ Correct
D. $20$ m/s
Solution: $v = \sqrt{2gh} = \sqrt{1600} = 40$ m/s (it takes 4 s).
Q12 — Motion Under Gravity · easy · theory
A ball is thrown up at $25$ m/s. Its height after $1$ s is ($g = 10$ m/s²)
A. $30$ m
B. $20$ m ✓ Correct
C. $15$ m
D. $25$ m
Solution: $h = ut - \frac{1}{2}gt^2 = 25 - 5 = 20$ m.
Q13 — Motion Under Gravity · medium · theory
A person in a freely falling lift experiences apparent
A. Double weight
B. Normal weight
C. Sideways force
D. Weightlessness ✓ Correct
Solution: Falling with acceleration $g$, the floor exerts no normal force — apparent weight is zero.
Q14 — Motion Under Gravity · easy · theory
One ball is dropped and another is thrown horizontally from the same height at the same moment. Which lands first? (ignore air)
A. Both land together ✓ Correct
B. The thrown one
C. Depends on their masses
D. The dropped one
Solution: Vertical motion is identical for both — horizontal velocity doesn’t affect fall time.
Q15 — Motion Under Gravity · medium · theory
A stone dropped from a height takes $3$ s to fall. The distance it falls in the LAST second is ($g = 10$ m/s²)
A. $15$ m
B. $25$ m ✓ Correct
C. $20$ m
D. $45$ m
Solution: Total $45$ m; in first $2$ s it falls $20$ m; last second: $45-20 = 25$ m.
Q16 — Motion Under Gravity · easy · theory
For a ball thrown vertically up (ignoring air), the time of ascent compared to the time of descent is
A. Smaller
B. Double
C. Equal ✓ Correct
D. Greater
Solution: Free flight is symmetric: same speeds at same heights, so equal times.
Q17 — Motion Under Gravity · medium · theory
A ball is thrown up at $20$ m/s. Its speed at HALF the maximum height is ($g = 10$ m/s²)
A. $5\sqrt{2}$ m/s
B. $10\sqrt{2}$ m/s ✓ Correct
C. $20$ m/s
D. $10$ m/s
Solution: $H = 20$ m; at $h = 10$: $v^2 = 400 - 2(10)(10) = 200 \Rightarrow v = 10\sqrt{2} \approx 14.1$ m/s.
Q18 — Motion Under Gravity · medium · theory
A stone is thrown up at $10$ m/s from the top of a $15$ m cliff. The time it takes to reach the ground below is ($g = 10$ m/s²)
A. $3$ s ✓ Correct
B. $1$ s
C. $2$ s
D. $1.5$ s
Solution: Taking down as positive: $15 = -10t + 5t^2 \Rightarrow t^2 - 2t - 3 = 0 \Rightarrow t = 3$ s.
Q19 — Motion Under Gravity · easy · theory
On the Moon, $g$ is about $\frac{1}{6}$th of Earth’s. A ball thrown up at the same speed there rises
A. The same height
B. $\frac{1}{6}$th as high
C. $6$ times higher ✓ Correct
D. $36$ times higher
Solution: $H = \frac{u^2}{2g}$: smaller $g$ (÷6) means larger $H$ (×6).
Q20 — Motion Under Gravity · medium · theory
A ball is thrown up at $40$ m/s. The distance it covers in the $4$th second is ($g = 10$ m/s²)
A. $20$ m
B. $15$ m
C. $5$ m ✓ Correct
D. $10$ m
Solution: $s_4 = u - \frac{g}{2}(2\times4-1) = 40 - 35 = 5$ m (it is nearly at the top at $t=4$ s).
Q21 — Motion Under Gravity · medium · numerical
A juggler throws balls up at $20$ m/s, tossing a new ball each time the previous one is at its highest point. How many balls are in the air at a time? ($g = 10$ m/s²)
A. $4$
B. $3$
C. $2$ ✓ Correct
D. $1$
Solution: Time to top $= 2$ s and flight time $= 4$ s: while one ball completes its flight, one more is launched — 2 aloft at any moment.
Q22 — Motion Under Gravity · easy · theory
The standard equations of motion under gravity assume
A. Nothing about air
B. The body is heavy
C. Air resistance is negligible ✓ Correct
D. The height is large
Solution: Free-fall formulas hold only when drag is ignored (or truly negligible).
Q23 — Motion Under Gravity · medium · theory
A body falling freely from rest covers a distance in the first second of ($g = 10$ m/s²)
A. $20$ m
B. $10$ m
C. $2.5$ m
D. $5$ m ✓ Correct
Solution: $h = \frac{1}{2}\times10\times1 = 5$ m.
Q24 — Motion Under Gravity · medium · theory
Two water drops fall from a tap $1$ s apart. As they fall, the separation between them
A. Stays constant
B. Keeps increasing ✓ Correct
C. First increases then constant
D. Decreases
Solution: The earlier drop is always faster ($v = gt$), so the gap grows continuously.
Q25 — Motion Under Gravity · easy · theory
The velocity–time graph of a body falling freely from rest is
A. A horizontal line
B. A parabola
C. A vertical line
D. A straight line through the origin with slope $g$ ✓ Correct
Solution: $v = gt$ — linear in time, starting from zero, slope $g$.
Q26 — Motion Under Gravity · easy · theory
A ball is thrown DOWNWARD at $5$ m/s from a height of $30$ m. The time to reach the ground is ($g = 10$ m/s²)
A. $6$ s
B. $1.5$ s
C. $2$ s ✓ Correct
D. $3$ s
Solution: $30 = 5t + 5t^2 \Rightarrow t^2 + t - 6 = 0 \Rightarrow t = 2$ s.
Q27 — Motion Under Gravity · easy · theory
The maximum height reached by a body projected vertically upward is proportional to
A. $\sqrt{u}$
B. $u$
C. $u^3$
D. $u^2$ ✓ Correct
Solution: $H = \frac{u^2}{2g} \propto u^2$: double the speed, four times the height.
Q28 — Motion Under Gravity · medium · theory
Ball A is dropped and ball B is thrown downward at $5$ m/s from the same height at the same time. Which hits the ground first?
A. B ✓ Correct
B. Depends on their masses
C. A
D. Both together
Solution: B starts with downward speed, stays ahead the whole way, and lands first. Mass is irrelevant.
Q29 — Motion Under Gravity · medium · theory
A ball thrown up returns to the thrower. Over the whole flight, its average VELOCITY is
A. Zero ✓ Correct
B. $u$
C. $\frac{u}{2}$
D. $g$
Solution: Displacement is zero (returns to start), so average velocity is zero — average speed is not.
Q30 — Motion Under Gravity · easy · theory
A ball is thrown up at $30$ m/s. Its velocity at $t = 4$ s is ($g = 10$ m/s²)
A. $10$ m/s downward ✓ Correct
B. Zero
C. $10$ m/s upward
D. $70$ m/s
Solution: $v = 30 - 40 = -10$ m/s: it topped out at 3 s and is now falling at 10 m/s.