AP Physics 1 Misconceptions
True or False: You walk around a 0.25 mi track. Both your distance and displacement are 0.25
mi.
False - your distance is 0.25 mi but your displacement is 0. Displacement is a vector and
distance is a scalar.
True or False: Acceleration and velocity are always in the same direction.
False - if they are in the same direction, the object speeds up. If they are in opposite directions,
the object slows down.
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True or False: Acceleration and net force are always in the same direction.
True - the direction of the net force determines the direction of the acceleration. If the net force
is left, the acceleration is to the left even though the velocity may be to the right.
True or False: If the velocity is zero, the acceleration must also be zero.
False - a ball at max height has zero velocity but an acceleration of -9.8 m/s^2.
, True or False: A positive acceleration does not tell you if the car is speeding up or slowing
down.
True - a positive acceleration indicates a net force in the positive direction. If the car is moving in
the negative direction, it is slowing down. If the car is moving in the positive direction, it is
speeding up.
True or False: An object in free-fall can only move down.
False - free fall just means gravity is the only force acting on it. It could be moving up, down, to
the right and down, etc. The acceleration must always point down.
True or False: There is a difference between average and instantaneous velocity.
True - average velocity is total distance divided by time. Instantaneous velocity is the velocity at
a particular instant (like what your speedometer would read). This can be found by a point on a
v-t graph.
True or False: Velocity is a force.
False - velocity and acceleration are vectors but they are not forces. Forces influence how
velocity changes.
True or False: If an object is at rest, there must be zero forces acting on it.
False - there could still be forces acting on it, but the net force (sum of forces) adds to zero. This
is true even if the object is moving at constant velocity.
True or False: Inertia and mass are the same concept.
True - inertial mass is a measure of how difficult it is to change that object's motion; more inertia
--> more mass.
True or False: You walk around a 0.25 mi track. Both your distance and displacement are 0.25
mi.
False - your distance is 0.25 mi but your displacement is 0. Displacement is a vector and
distance is a scalar.
True or False: Acceleration and velocity are always in the same direction.
False - if they are in the same direction, the object speeds up. If they are in opposite directions,
the object slows down.
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Next
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True or False: Acceleration and net force are always in the same direction.
True - the direction of the net force determines the direction of the acceleration. If the net force
is left, the acceleration is to the left even though the velocity may be to the right.
True or False: If the velocity is zero, the acceleration must also be zero.
False - a ball at max height has zero velocity but an acceleration of -9.8 m/s^2.
, True or False: A positive acceleration does not tell you if the car is speeding up or slowing
down.
True - a positive acceleration indicates a net force in the positive direction. If the car is moving in
the negative direction, it is slowing down. If the car is moving in the positive direction, it is
speeding up.
True or False: An object in free-fall can only move down.
False - free fall just means gravity is the only force acting on it. It could be moving up, down, to
the right and down, etc. The acceleration must always point down.
True or False: There is a difference between average and instantaneous velocity.
True - average velocity is total distance divided by time. Instantaneous velocity is the velocity at
a particular instant (like what your speedometer would read). This can be found by a point on a
v-t graph.
True or False: Velocity is a force.
False - velocity and acceleration are vectors but they are not forces. Forces influence how
velocity changes.
True or False: If an object is at rest, there must be zero forces acting on it.
False - there could still be forces acting on it, but the net force (sum of forces) adds to zero. This
is true even if the object is moving at constant velocity.
True or False: Inertia and mass are the same concept.
True - inertial mass is a measure of how difficult it is to change that object's motion; more inertia
--> more mass.
