Question

Several forces act on a ball. Which of the following statements must be true? The velocity and acceleration could be in any direction. None of these choices. The velocity and acceleration are in the direction of the resultant force. The velocity is in the direction of the resultant force, but the acceleration could be in any direction. The velocity could be in any direction, but the acceleration is in the direction of the resultant force.

Answer 1

Answer:

The velocity could be in any direction, but the acceleration is in the direction of the resultant force.

Explanation:

The ball (assuming that we can treat it as a point mass) must obey Newton's 2nd Law, that states that the acceleration produced by a force, is proportional to the applied force, being the mass the proportionality constant.

As the force is the vector, and the mass an scalar, the acceleration vector must be in the same direction as the force vector.

Velocity, instead, can be in any direction: When an object is speeding up is in the same direction as the acceleration, while if it is slowing down, it has just the opposite.