Final answer:
When you let go of a flaming tennis ball that was swinging in a circle, it will move in the direction of the swing at the moment of release due to Newton's first law of motion.
Step-by-step explanation:
If you let go of a flaming tennis ball that you were swinging in a circle, the ball would move in the direction of the swing at the moment of release. This behavior is due to Newton's first law of motion, which states that an object in motion will stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by a net external force. In the scenario provided, when the tennis ball is released, there are no forces acting in the horizontal direction to change its state of motion, so it continues to move tangentially to the circle it was following while being swung. This tangential motion is in the direction of the swing at the point of release. If you let go of a flaming tennis ball that you were swinging in a circle, it would continue in the direction of the swing, which is tangential to the circular path at the point of release. This is due to the concept of inertia. Inertia is the tendency of an object to maintain its state of motion, either at rest or in uniform motion unless acted upon by an external force. When you release the tennis ball, the only force acting on it is its tangential velocity, causing it to move in the direction it was moving just before release. The ball would follow a straight-line path tangentially to the circle at the point of release. Therefore, the correct answer is c. In the direction of the swing.