A car brakes for a red light, a cyclist freewheels down a hill, a parachute opens: forces and motion explain all of them. GCSE Physics asks you to describe motion with the right words (speed or velocity, scalar or vector), to read graphs and to use a small set of equations without slipping on units.
This free quiz moves from the vocabulary of vectors and scalars to calculations with speed, acceleration, weight and force, then to graphs, Newton's laws and stopping distance. Wherever a calculation can be checked automatically, a script recalculates the answer, every answer comes with a short explanation, and the questions that need Higher tier ideas are flagged so that Foundation students can leave them out.
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A student walks 1200 m in 10 minutes and then cycles 6000 m in 5 minutes. What is her average speed for the whole journey, in m/s?
Answer: D, 8 m/s
Average speed = total distance ÷ total time. The total distance is 1200 + 6000 = 7200 m. The total time is 10 + 5 = 15 minutes = 900 s. So the average speed is 7200 ÷ 900 = 8 m/s. Averaging the two stage speeds would be wrong, because she spent different times at each.
A crate of mass 10 kg is pushed along a horizontal floor with a horizontal force of 50 N. Friction acts against the motion with a force of 20 N. What is the acceleration of the crate?
Answer: A, 3 m/s2
First find the resultant force. The push and the friction act in opposite directions, so the resultant is 50 − 20 = 30 N. Then F = ma gives a = F ÷ m = 30 ÷ 10 = 3 m/s2.
Speed tells you how fast something moves and has no direction, so it is a scalar. Velocity is speed in a stated direction, so it is a vector: two runners going at 4 m/s in opposite directions have the same speed but different velocities. Average speed is the total distance divided by the total time, so for a journey in stages you add up all the distances and all the times before you divide.
Acceleration is the change in velocity divided by the time taken, in metres per second squared. If a car slows down while moving in the positive direction, the change in velocity is negative, so the acceleration is negative. If the velocity does not change, the acceleration is zero, however fast the object is moving. Convert minutes to seconds before you substitute.
On a distance–time graph, the gradient is the speed. A horizontal line means the object is stationary, a straight sloping line means a steady speed, and a steeper line means a faster object. On a velocity–time graph, the gradient is the acceleration: a horizontal line is a constant velocity, a line sloping up is speeding up and a line sloping down is slowing down.
Higher tier students also use the area under a velocity–time graph, which gives the distance travelled. Split the area into triangles and rectangles and add them.
The resultant force is the single force that has the same effect as all the forces on an object. For forces along a line, add the forces that point the same way and subtract those that point the opposite way. If the resultant force is zero, the velocity does not change (Newton's first law). If it is not zero, the object accelerates according to F = ma (Newton's second law). When two objects interact, the forces on them are equal in size and opposite in direction (Newton's third law).
Weight is the force of gravity on an object, found with weight = mass × gravitational field strength. Mass stays the same everywhere; weight changes with the field strength. The specifications do not agree on one value of g, so each weight calculation in this quiz states the value to use. All the equations in this quiz appear in the three specifications; boards differ on which equations are given in the exam, so check what your board provides for your course.
The stopping distance of a vehicle is the thinking distance plus the braking distance. The thinking distance depends on the driver's reaction time, which tiredness, alcohol, drugs and distractions make longer. The braking distance depends on the speed, the condition of the brakes and tyres and the state of the road. A bigger speed makes both parts longer.
It is written to fit all three: speed, acceleration, motion graphs, weight, resultant force, Newton's laws, stopping distance and work done appear in the GCSE Physics specifications of AQA, Pearson Edexcel and OCR. We have not checked the Combined Science specifications for this quiz, so check yours. The specifications use slightly different wording and a few details vary, so look at your own board's specification for the exact content of your course.
The boards do not agree on one value. AQA says the value of g will be given in any calculation, while the Edexcel and OCR specifications expect you to know that it is 10 (N/kg, or m/s² for free fall). Stating the value in the question means the answer is the same whichever course you follow. In your exam, use the value your board tells you to use.
Momentum and inertia are marked as Higher tier content in all three specifications we read, and finding the distance travelled from the area under a velocity–time graph is Higher tier in AQA and OCR (Edexcel prints it as Higher in its list of maths skills), so those questions are flagged. If you choose Foundation, the quiz leaves them out and uses the questions that suit both tiers. If you choose Higher, you get everything.
No. Each attempt picks a set of questions from a larger bank and shuffles the order of the answers, so you cannot learn them by position. Your answers and score stay on your own device, in your browser, so you can carry on after a reload; you can clear them at any time with the "Clear my saved progress" button. We only count anonymous, cookie-free visits and whether a quiz was finished, never your answers or who you are.
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These practice questions were written by Cloudia Tutoring. They are not official AQA, Pearson Edexcel or OCR material, and Cloudia Tutoring is not affiliated with or endorsed by any exam board or the Department for Education. Always check your own exam board's specification.
Reviewed by Claudia Edwards on 20 October 2026 Last updated .
