A Level Maths: Kinematics: Constant Acceleration (SUVAT) Topic Summary and Resources
Video Lessons
Watch alongside the worksheet for the full lesson experience, then test your understanding with the lesson questions.
Revision Notes
Handwritten notes summarising the key ideas for each lesson. Ideal for quick review before a test.
Exam Questions
Past-paper-style questions organised by topic, with full mark schemes.
- Kinematics with Constant Acceleration (SUVAT) (OCR)
- Kinematics with Constant Acceleration (SUVAT) (Edexcel)
- Kinematics with Variable Acceleration (OCR)
- Kinematics with Variable Acceleration (Edexcel)
Drawn from OCR and Edexcel past papers but designed to be useful for students of all UK exam boards — including AQA and OCR MEI — unless a sheet is explicitly board-specific.
Before You Start This Topic
It will help if you are confident with the following:
- Displacement-Time and Velocity-Time Graphs — visual understanding of motion underpins SUVAT
- Quadratic Equations — needed for solving SUVAT equations involving t^2
- Indices — needed for rearranging and substituting
A Level Maths kinematics with constant acceleration is one of the most important and rewarding mechanics topics. The five SUVAT equations relate displacement ($s$), initial velocity ($u$), final velocity ($v$), acceleration ($a$), and time ($t$) for objects moving in a straight line with constant acceleration. Get fluent with these and a huge range of mechanics problems become quick wins.
You meet the five SUVAT equations: $v = u + at$, $s = ut + \tfrac{1}{2}at^2$, $s = vt – \tfrac{1}{2}at^2$, $v^2 = u^2 + 2as$, and $s = \tfrac{1}{2}(u + v)t$. The strategy is to identify which three of the five variables you have, then pick the equation that involves them plus the one you want — leaving out the variable you do not have. You apply SUVAT to motion under gravity ($a = g = 9.8\,\text{m/s}^2$ downwards), including objects thrown upwards, falling from rest, or moving on inclined planes. You also derive the SUVAT equations from the basic definitions of velocity and acceleration, which is testable.
Kinematics with constant acceleration is part of the Mechanics strand of A Level Maths for AQA, Edexcel, OCR, and OCR MEI students.
Watch out for…
A few things to be careful with: choose a positive direction at the start and STICK to it — if up is positive, then acceleration due to gravity is $-9.8\,\text{m/s}^2$ (not $+9.8$); SUVAT only applies when acceleration is CONSTANT — for variable acceleration use calculus (see Kinematics: Variable Acceleration); for an object thrown upwards, the velocity is zero at the highest point (a useful equation-anchor), but acceleration is still $-g$; and SUVAT equations are scalar in one dimension and vector in two — be careful which form you need.