Question

A player kicks a football into the air. It slows to a stop at its highest point in the air before falling to the ground. Which statement accurately describes the motion of the football?

Inertia moves the ball into the air until it runs out of force.
The ball slows down in the air due to an unbalanced force.
A balanced force slows the ball until it stops in the air and falls.
No force acts on the ball, only inertia slows it down.

Answer 1

The ball slows down in the air due to an unbalanced force.

Step-by-step explanation:

As we know that the unbalanced forces on an object will accelerate it or decelerate it from its initial speed

So here we know that

`F_(net) = ma`

now if the speed of the ball is decreasing and it come to rest then we must say that the motion of the ball is accelerated motion in which its speed is slowing down

So here the force on the ball must be unbalanced force due to which its motion must be accelerated

So correct answer will be

The ball slows down in the air due to an unbalanced force.

Answer 2

The ball slows down in the air due to an unbalanced force

Step-by-step explanation:

When player kicks the ball, there are mainly two foces acting on this object: the force made by the player and the opposite force of gravity (which acts with a direction always to the centre of the Earth)

The force applied by the player will be decreasing, while the force of gravity is always constant, this will make that both forces will unbalance, making the football´s speed slow down