Speed and acceleration

  • Don't Be Late
    problem

    Don't be late

    Age
    11 to 14
    Challenge level
    filled star filled star empty star
    Mary is driving to Birmingham Airport. Using her average speed for the entire journey, find how long her journey took.
  • Four on the Road
    problem

    Four on the road

    Age
    14 to 16
    Challenge level
    filled star filled star empty star
    Four vehicles travel along a road one afternoon. Can you make sense of the graphs showing their motion?
  • Speeding boats
    problem

    Speeding boats

    Age
    14 to 16
    Challenge level
    filled star empty star empty star
    Two boats travel up and down a lake. Can you picture where they will cross if you know how fast each boat is travelling?
  • Dangerous driver?
    problem

    Dangerous driver?

    Age
    16 to 18
    Challenge level
    filled star empty star empty star
    Was it possible that this dangerous driving penalty was issued in error?
  • Thunder and Lightning
    problem

    Thunder and lightning

    Age
    11 to 14
    Challenge level
    filled star empty star empty star
    How far away was the lightning if the flash and the thunderclap were 6 seconds apart?
  • Swimmers
    problem

    Swimmers

    Age
    14 to 16
    Challenge level
    filled star filled star filled star
    Swimmers in opposite directions cross at 20m and at 30m from each end of a swimming pool. How long is the pool ?
  • Jumping Gerbils
    problem

    Jumping gerbils

    Age
    14 to 16
    Challenge level
    filled star filled star empty star
    A conveyor belt, with tins placed at regular intervals, is moving at a steady rate towards a labelling machine. A gerbil starts from the beginning of the belt and jumps from tin to tin.
  • An Average Average Speed
    problem

    An average average speed

    Age
    14 to 16
    Challenge level
    filled star empty star empty star
    My average speed for a journey was 50 mph, my return average speed of 70 mph. Why wasn't my average speed for the round trip 60mph ?
  • Revolutions
    problem

    Revolutions

    Age
    11 to 14
    Challenge level
    filled star filled star filled star
    Jack and Jill run at different speeds in opposite directions around the maypole. How many times do they pass in the first minute?
  • Motion Sensor
    problem

    Motion sensor

    Age
    14 to 16
    Challenge level
    filled star empty star empty star
    Looking at the graph - when was the person moving fastest? Slowest?