Practice Position in Physics

Use these practice problems to test your method after reviewing the concept explanation and worked examples.

Quick Recap

The location of an object relative to a reference point, described using coordinates.

Where something is, described by numbers from some starting point.

Example 1

easy
An object starts at position x = 3 \text{ m} and moves to x = 11 \text{ m} along a straight line. What is the object's displacement?

Example 2

medium
A particle's position is given by x(t) = 4t^2 - 2t + 1 (in meters, with t in seconds). What is the particle's position at t = 0 \text{ s} and t = 3 \text{ s}? What is the displacement between these times?

Example 3

medium
An ant walks from position x = -5 \text{ m} to x = 7 \text{ m}, then back to x = 2 \text{ m}. What is the total distance traveled and the final displacement from the starting point?

Example 4

hard
A particle's position is x(t) = t^3 - 6t^2 + 9t (meters). At what times is the particle at position x = 0? What is the velocity at each of those times?