Final answer:
The symbol used to represent the acceleration due to gravity is g. It is constant at any given location on Earth and has an average value of 9.8 m/s². The direction of the acceleration is downward.
Step-by-step explanation:
The symbol used to represent the acceleration due to gravity is g. It is constant at any given location on Earth and has an average value of 9.8 m/s².
The acceleration due to gravity is downward (towards the center of Earth), and its direction defines what we call vertical. Whether the acceleration a in the kinematic equations has the value +g or -g depends on how we define the coordinate system.