Skip to Content Skip to Header Navigation
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Hold down the T key for 3 seconds to activate the audio accessibility mode, at which point you can click the K key to pause and resume audio. Useful for the Check Your Understanding and See Answers.

Mission NL2 Balanced Forces and the State of Motion - Question Group 1 Help

 The Question
A ball is thrown vertically upwards. After the ball is released and is moving upwards towards its peak, it slows down. During this time ...
 
 Physics Rules
Newton's First Law of Motion:
An object at rest will stay at rest; an object in motion will stay in motion with the same speed and direction, unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
 Don't be Fooled

Many beginning students of Physics believe that an object will always move in the direction of the force which acts upon it. But don't be fooled! Forces are associated with the acceleration direction of an object, not with the direction the object is moving. As such, a forward moving object does not necessarily need a forward force. A forward force would only be needed to speed the object up; if the object is slowing down, a backward force would be required to cause its backwardacceleration. And what if the object is moving at a constant speed? Then all the forces acting upon it are balanced.

 Physics Rules
Direction of Acceleration:
If an object is slowing down, then the direction of its acceleration is opposite the direction that the object is moving. A rightward moving object that is slowing down has a leftward acceleration. And a leftward moving object that is slowing down has a rightward acceleration.
Return to Screen Reader Navigation