Newton's first law states that a body continues in its state of rest or of uniform motion in a straight line unless compelled by an external force to change that state. This reluctance to change one's state of rest or motion is called inertia, and mass is its quantitative measure — the greater the mass, the greater the force needed to produce a given change in velocity. Inertia takes three
Laws of Motion
Class 1111 previous-year questions from this chapter every option and the correct answer, free · where the marks are
1. Newton's laws, inertia, impulse and momentum
Exam focus: Action–reaction pairs act on two different bodies, so they can never be added together to argue that nothing accelerates — a body stays at rest only when the net force on that one body is zero.
Laws of Motion — Full Chapter
NCERT Wallah
Full-chapter one-shot; covers Newton's laws, inertia, impulse and momentum, but also bundles friction and pulleys/pseudo-force content that this site covers separately.
PhysicsNEET 2025show ▾A ball of mass 0.5 kg is dropped from a height of 40 m. The ball hits the ground and rises to a height of 10 m. The impulse imparted to the ball during its collision with the ground is (take ):
- A.21 N s✓
- B.7 N s
- C.0
- D.84 N s
Solution
Speed just before impact m/s downward; just after m/s upward. Impulse N s.
Open this question on its own page →
Save for spaced revision (free account)PhysicsNEET 2023show ▾A football player is moving southward and suddenly turns eastward with the same speed to avoid an opponent. The force that acts on the player while turning is:
- A.Along eastward
- B.Along northward
- C.Along north-east✓
- D.Along south-west
The worked solution is part of a paid pack.
PhysicsNEET 2022show ▾A shell of mass is at rest initially. It explodes into three fragments having masses in the ratio 2 : 2 : 1. If the fragments having equal mass fly off along mutually perpendicular directions with speed , the speed of the third (lighter) fragment is:
PhysicsNEET 2021show ▾A ball of mass 0.15 kg is dropped from a height of 10 m, strikes the ground and rebounds to the same height. The magnitude of the impulse imparted to the ball is () nearly:
- A.0 kg m/s
- B.4.2 kg m/s✓
- C.2.1 kg m/s
- D.1.4 kg m/s
The worked solution is part of a paid pack.
PhysicsNEET 2019show ▾A particle moving with velocity is acted upon by three forces, represented in magnitude and direction by the three sides of a triangle PQR taken in the same order (, , head-to-tail forming a closed triangle). The velocity of the particle will:
- A.Increase
- B.Decrease
- C.Remain constant✓
- D.Change according to the smallest force
The worked solution is part of a paid pack.
2. Friction: static, kinetic, rolling
Exam focus: Static friction isn't a fixed value — it self-adjusts to match the applied force up to its maximum, μsN — so the friction on a stationary block usually equals the applied force, not μsN itself.
Friction: Static, Kinetic and Rolling
PW NEET
Dedicated one-shot on friction covering static, kinetic and rolling friction together.
PhysicsNEET 2025show ▾There are two inclined surfaces of equal length and the same angle of inclination with the horizontal. One of them is rough and the other is perfectly smooth. A given body takes 2 times as much time to slide down the rough surface as the smooth surface. The coefficient of kinetic friction () between the object and the rough surface is close to:
- A.0.25
- B.0.40
- C.0.5
- D.0.75✓
Solution
Smooth: . Rough: . Same distance, , so .
Open this question on its own page →
Save for spaced revision (free account)PhysicsNEET 2023show ▾Calculate the maximum acceleration of a moving car so that a body lying on the floor of the car remains stationary. The coefficient of static friction between the body and the floor is 0.15 ().
- A.1.2 m s⁻
- B.150 m s⁻
- C.1.5 m s⁻✓
- D.50 m s⁻
The worked solution is part of a paid pack.
3. Circular motion dynamics, banking of roads
Exam focus: tanθ = v²/rg is only the speed needing zero friction on a banked curve — with friction present, safe speed becomes a range between a v_min and v_max, both formulas picking up μ.
Circular Motion Dynamics, Including Banking of Roads
PW NEET
Dedicated one-shot covering circular motion dynamics including banking of roads.
PhysicsNEET 2024show ▾A bob is whirled in a horizontal plane by means of a string with an initial speed of rpm. The tension in the string is . If the speed becomes while keeping the same radius, the tension in the string becomes:
- A.✓
- B.
- C.
- D.
Solution
Tension supplies the centripetal force, . Doubling the angular speed at the same radius quadruples it: .
Open this question on its own page →
Save for spaced revision (free account)PhysicsNEET 2019show ▾A block of mass 10 kg is in contact against the inner wall of a hollow cylindrical drum of radius 1 m. The coefficient of friction between the block and the inner wall of the cylinder is 0.1. The minimum angular velocity needed for the cylinder, rotating about its vertical axis, to keep the block stationary is: ()
- A. rad/s
- B. rad/s
- C.10 rad/s✓
- D. rad/s
The worked solution is part of a paid pack.
4. Connected bodies, pulleys and pseudo forces
Exam focus: A pseudo force exists only in a non-inertial, accelerating frame — solving the same problem from the ground frame must never include one, and mixing both approaches in one diagram is the most common error here.
Pulleys and Constraint Relations (Connected Bodies)
Physics Wallah - Alakh Pandey
Strong coverage of pulleys, movable pulleys and constraint relations; pseudo forces are treated more lightly here than in a separate PW lecture, so that half of the subtopic is only partially covered.
PhysicsNEET 2024show ▾A horizontal force of 10 N is applied to a block A, which is in contact with a block B on the side away from the force. The masses of blocks A and B are 2 kg and 3 kg respectively. The blocks slide over a frictionless surface. The force exerted by block A on block B is:
- A.4 N
- B.6 N✓
- C.10 N
- D.Zero
Solution
Both blocks share acceleration . The only horizontal force on B is the push from A: N.
Open this question on its own page →
Save for spaced revision (free account)