People on Trains—Speed Relative to Ground 13

Shown below are six situations where people are walking or running through train cars. The people are
walking/running at various speeds either in the direction the train is traveling or opposite to the direction
of travel of the train. The speed of the train and the speed and direction of each person are given in each
figure. An observer is standing beside the track watching the train go by.

Rank these walkers/runners, from greatest to least, on the basis of how fast they are moving relative to the
observer standing beside the tracks. That is, put first the person the observer would say is going fastest
and put last the person the observer would say was the slowest.

A v p = 8 m/s B v p = 10 m/s C v p = 4 m/s

v t = 24 m/s v t = 30 m/s v t = 20 m/s

D v p = 12 m/s E v p = 4 m/s F v p = 8 m/s

v t = 20 m/s v t = 16 m/s v t = 16 m/s

Greatest 1________ 2________ 3________ 4________ 5________ 6_______ Least

Or, all six of these people have the same speed according to the observer. _________
Please carefully explain your reasoning.

How sure were you of your ranking? (circle one)

Basically Guessed Sure Very Sure
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

13 C. Hieggelke, D. Maloney, T. O’Kuma

Physics Ranking Tasks 14 Mechanics
The graphs on this page represent the motion of
objects along a line which is the positive distance
(position) axis. Notice that the motion of objects
is represented by distance, velocity, or
acceleration graphs.

Answer the following questions. You may use a

graph more than once or not at all, and there may
be more correct choices than blanks. If none of
the graphs is correct, answer J.

___13. Pick one graph that gives enough

information to indicate that the velocity
is always negative.

Pick three graphs that represent the motion of an

object whose velocity is constant (not changing)

___14. ___15. ___16.

___17. Pick one graph that definitely indicates an

object has reversed direction.

___18. Pick one graph that might possibly be that

of
an object standing still.

Pick three graphs that represent the motion of an

object whose acceleration is changing.

___19. ___20. ___21.

Pick a velocity and acceleration graph that could

describe the motion of the same object during the
time shown.

___19. Velocity graph.

___20. Acceleration graph.

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