GCSE Physics Stopping distances questions by topic

Complete the sentences about stopping.

1. (a)Stopping distance = … distance + … distance.[1]
2. (b)During the thinking phase the car travels at … speed.[1]
3. (c)Braking transfers energy from the kinetic store to the … store of the brakes.[1]
4. (d)Doubling the speed makes the braking distance four times …[1]

A car travels at 13 m/s and the driver reacts in 0.80 s.

1. (a)Calculate the thinking distance.[2]
2. (b)State one factor that would make this thinking distance longer.[1]

Sort each factor into the column it affects.

1. (a)Higher speed.[1]
2. (b)Icy road.[1]
3. (c)Tired driver.[1]
4. (d)Heavier load.[1]
5. (e)Mobile phone use.[1]

A van brakes from 20 m/s at 5.0 m/s².

1. (a)Calculate the braking distance using v² = 2 a s.[2]
2. (b)State what happens to this distance if the road is icy and the deceleration halves.[2]

A driver travels at 28 m/s with a reaction time of 0.60 s. The brakes then decelerate the car at 7.0 m/s².

1. (a)Calculate the thinking distance.[2]
2. (b)Calculate the braking distance.[2]
3. (c)Calculate the total stopping distance.[1]
4. (d)A second driver has drunk alcohol, doubling their reaction time. State the new total stopping distance.[2]

Explain why advertising “stopping distances” can be dangerously optimistic in real conditions.

1. (a)State the assumptions behind published figures.[2]
2. (b)Give two real-world departures and their effects.[4]

A 1 200 kg car stops from 24 m/s in 6.0 s.

1. (a)Calculate the deceleration.[2]
2. (b)Calculate the braking force.[2]
3. (c)Calculate the braking distance and check it against s = ½ × u × t for constant deceleration.[2]

A student claims: “Speed cameras cause accidents because they make drivers brake hard.”

1. (a)Identify the physical risk of late, hard braking the student alludes to.[2]
2. (b)Explain why the real solution is earlier, gentler speed adjustment.[2]
3. (c)Calculate the extra braking distance if a driver brakes from 36 m/s instead of 18 m/s at the same 8.0 m/s².[2]

A lorry of mass 18 000 kg travels at 22 m/s. Its brakes can provide a maximum braking force of 63 000 N.

1. (a)Calculate the maximum deceleration.[2]
2. (b)Calculate the minimum braking distance.[2]
3. (c)The same lorry is loaded to 27 000 kg. Explain, using energy, what happens to the braking distance.[3]
4. (d)State one reason the real stopping distance is longer than your answer to (b).[1]

Two drivers side by side both travel at 31 m/s. Driver A is alert (reaction 0.5 s); driver B is texting (reaction 1.5 s). Both then brake at 6.0 m/s².

1. (a)Calculate each thinking distance.[2]
2. (b)Calculate the shared braking distance.[2]
3. (c)Find how much further driver B travels before stopping.[2]
4. (d)State the physics reason the braking distances are identical.[1]

A school newsletter claims: “Modern ABS brakes make stopping distances the same on ice as on dry roads.”

1. (a)State what ABS does.[2]
2. (b)Explain the error in the claim using grip and braking force.[3]
3. (c)State what ABS genuinely improves.[1]

Use estimation to assess this claim: “At 27 m/s (60 mph), a car needs at least a football pitch of dry-road stopping distance.”

1. (a)Estimate the thinking distance with a 0.7 s reaction time.[2]
2. (b)Estimate the braking distance at a dry-road deceleration of 6.5 m/s².[2]
3. (c)Compare the total with a football pitch (about 100 m) and judge the claim.[3]
4. (d)State one condition that would make the claim true.[1]