Kinematics — distance fallen grows as t², not t
“Candidates who got this question wrong tended to choose option A. This implies that they got their times and distances mixed up. These candidates assumed at t/2 the object has fallen a distance of h/2.”
Slide time from 0 to T. The blue ball falls with real physics; the grey ‘misconception ghost’ falls at the steady rate students imagine. Strobe marks show positions at equal time steps.
Look at the strobe marks: equal time steps give distances in the ratio 1 : 3 : 5 : 7 … The real ball spends most of its time in the top quarter of the fall.
Original reconstruction inspired by the misconceptions described in the Singapore-Cambridge GCE A-Level H1 Physics 8867 November 2023 Examiner Report. Not the actual examination question. For classroom exploration.
Made by lookang, using Claude Fable 5. More resources: iwant2study.org