Final answer:
The student is asking about the acceleration of a ball when pushed with a net force of 20.5 newtons. Without the mass of the ball, we cannot calculate the exact acceleration, but if the mass were known, acceleration could be found using Newton's second law of motion (a = F / m).
Step-by-step explanation:
The student asks about the acceleration caused by a push on a ball, given that the net force during the push is 20.5 newtons. To find the acceleration, we'll use Newton's second law of motion, which is represented by the formula F = ma, where F is the force applied, m is the mass of the object, and a is the acceleration of the object.
To solve for acceleration, we rearrange the formula to a = F / m. However, the mass of the ball is not provided in the question, which means we cannot calculate a numerical value for the acceleration without this information. The student would be able to calculate acceleration if they have the mass of the ball by dividing the net force (20.5 N) by the mass of the ball.
Example: If the mass of the ball were 2 kg, the acceleration would be calculated as follows:
Acceleration (a) = Net force (F) / Mass (m)
a = 20.5 N / 2 kga = 10.25 m/s²
This is only an example calculation and the actual acceleration can be found when the mass is known.