Question

if you drop an object, it will accelerate downward at a rate of 10 m/s2. if you instead throw it downward, its acceleration (in the absence of air resistance will be group of answer choices greater than 10 m/s2. less than 10 m/s2. 10 m/s2.

Answer 1

Whether an object is dropped or thrown downward without air resistance, the acceleration due to gravity on Earth is constant at 9.80 m/s².

Step-by-step explanation:

When an object is dropped (not thrown), it accelerates downward due to gravity at a rate of approximately 9.80 m/s² on Earth, which we call the acceleration due to gravity, represented by the symbol g.

Regardless of whether the object is simply dropped or thrown downward, in the absence of air resistance, the acceleration of the object will remain constant at 9.80 m/s².

This is because acceleration due to gravity is independent of the initial velocity of the object.

Throwing the object downward gives it an initial velocity, but does not affect the constant acceleration due to gravity.

Newton's second law of motion supports this concept, stating that the net force on an object (its weight when air resistance is negligible) is responsible for its acceleration (9.80 m/s² towards the center of Earth).

Air resistance can affect the falling speed of objects but not the acceleration due to gravity.

If there's no air resistance, throwing it downward won't change the rate of acceleration; it will still be 10 m/s².