Question

A ball is tossed at an angle. It moves in an arc, reaches its highest point, and then falls in an arc back to the ground. During the ball’s flight, what can be said about the direction of the acceleration?.

Answer 1

The ball's acceleration is constantly directed downwards at 9.8 m/s² due to gravity throughout its arc-like trajectory, independent of its horizontal motion.

Step-by-step explanation:

During the ball's flight, when it is tossed at an angle and moves in an arc, the acceleration of the ball is always directed downwards towards the center of the Earth because of gravity. This means that the acceleration vector is constant in magnitude and direction, at -9.8 m/s² vertically downward, which is independent of the horizontal component of the ball's motion.

The horizontal acceleration of the ball is zero, assuming air resistance is negligible. Therefore, the horizontal velocity remains constant throughout the ball's flight. However, the vertical velocity changes due to the constant vertical acceleration - it decreases on the way up, becomes zero at the peak, and then increases in the downward direction. But despite these changes in vertical velocity, the vertical acceleration due to gravity remains constant.

In summary, regardless of whether the ball is moving upwards after being launched, at its highest point, or during its descent, the ball's acceleration is always directed downward at 9.8 m/s², which is the acceleration due to gravity.