A baseball with mass of 0.145 kg is thrown straight down at the ground. At a particular speed, it has a drag force of 0.4 N acting on it. What is its acceleration at that time? :)

1 answer

To determine the acceleration of the baseball when it is thrown straight down and is experiencing a drag force, we can use Newton's second law of motion, which states that:

Fnet=ma

where Fnet is the net force acting on the object, m is the mass of the object, and a is its acceleration.

The forces acting on the baseball are the gravitational force (weight) and the drag force. The gravitational force can be calculated using:

Fgravity=mg

where g is the acceleration due to gravity, approximately 9.81,m/s2.

  1. Calculate the gravitational force acting on the baseball:

Fgravity=0.145,kg9.81,m/s2=1.42145,N

  1. The drag force is acting upwards and is given as 0.4,N. Therefore, we can express the net force as:

Fnet=FgravityFdrag

Substituting in the values we found:

Fnet=1.42145,N0.4,N=1.02145,N

  1. Now use Newton's second law to find the acceleration:

Fnet=ma

a=Fnetm=1.02145,N0.145,kg7.04,m/s2

Thus, the acceleration of the baseball at that speed is approximately 7.04,m/s2 downward.