Final answer:
The student's question involves kinematics in projectile motion, resolving the movement into horizontal and vertical components, and understanding the graphs representing the horizontal velocity, vertical velocity, and vertical acceleration of a ball throughout its trajectory.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question pertains to the kinematics of a ball in projectile motion, specifically focusing on its vertical and horizontal motions. When a ball is thrown or launched at an angle, its motion can be analyzed by resolving it into horizontal and vertical components. The graph of the ball's horizontal velocity versus time is a straight line, assuming no air resistance, signifying a constant velocity. Meanwhile, the graph of the ball's vertical velocity versus time will start with a positive value and decrease linearly, crossing zero at the peak of the trajectory, and becoming negative as it falls back down due to the constant acceleration of gravity acting downwards.
The ball's vertical acceleration will be a constant negative value, equal to the acceleration due to gravity (approximately -9.80 m/s²), as gravity is the only force acting in the vertical direction. This acceleration does not change with time in the absence of air resistance, hence the graph of the vertical acceleration versus time will be a horizontal line negative value.