Practice physics class test — Year 3: motion in the plane.
15 questions drawn at random from a bank of 25, on the block of the programme your teacher is finishing: every attempt is a different test. No penalty for wrong answers, so answer even if you are not sure. At the end you receive by email the correct answer to every question and your weak topics — with an account you see them straight away here on the page. The step-by-step solution unlocks with your first lesson.
A class test is the written test an Italian high-school class sits after each block of the programme; this practice version is multiple choice.
Test in ItalianThe questions of this simulator are in Italian, as in the real exam.
Programme covered by the test
- Position, velocity and acceleration vectors
- Combining motions and Galilean relativity
- Projectile motion: range, maximum height, time of flight
- Uniform circular motion, centripetal acceleration
- Simple harmonic motion and the simple pendulum
Two worked examples from the test
Un treno procede in rettilineo verso est a 20 m/s rispetto al suolo. Un passeggero cammina nel corridoio verso la coda del treno, con velocità 1,5 m/s rispetto al vagone.
Qual è la velocità del passeggero rispetto al suolo?
Solution
- Composizione galileiana delle velocità:
- Prendo il verso est come positivo: la velocità del treno è m/s.
- Il passeggero va verso la coda, cioè verso ovest rispetto al treno: la sua velocità relativa è m/s.
- Somma: m/s, ancora verso est.
- Rispetto al suolo il passeggero avanza comunque: rallenta soltanto rispetto al treno.
Una barca attraversa un fiume largo 48 m tenendo la prua perpendicolare alle rive, con velocità 3,0 m/s rispetto all'acqua. La corrente scorre parallela alle rive a 2,0 m/s.
Di quanto viene trascinata a valle rispetto al punto che sta esattamente di fronte alla partenza?
Solution
- I due moti sono indipendenti: la traversata è governata solo dalla componente perpendicolare alla riva.
- Tempo di traversata: s.
- Nello stesso tempo la corrente sposta la barca lungo il fiume: m.
- Errore tipico: calcolare il tempo con la velocità risultante (3,6 m/s), che però non è diretta verso la riva opposta.
In the online practice test you will find 13 more questions like these; the correct answer to every question arrives by email.
Prefer paper? Download the test as a PDF (15 questions, 4 pages · 77 KB, ready to print). You receive the solutions by email after taking it online.
Download the PDFWhat a physics test on motion in the plane looks like
A complete projectile motion (range, maximum height, time of flight, speed at impact), a uniform circular motion with centripetal acceleration, a pendulum or a spring with simple harmonic motion, and a question on Galilean relativity with relative velocities.
The mistake that costs the grade
Putting an acceleration along the horizontal in projectile motion too: along x the motion is uniform, the only acceleration is g downwards. In uniform circular motion, saying the acceleration is zero because the magnitude of the velocity does not change.
How to use this practice test
Take it once cold, without revising and with the timer on: it is there to show you where you stand, not to look good. Then look at your weak topics, revise only those — usually two or three, not the whole chapter — and retake it after a few days. The 15 questions are drawn from a bank of 25, so the second attempt is not the same test and the scores are genuinely comparable.
Is the score not enough?
See which topics lost you the most marks, then read the typical physics mistakes in high school — or we look at your results together: the diagnostic is free.