You find the net force by subtracting.
The acceleration of gravity on or near the Earth's surface is 9.8 m/s² downward.
Is that right ? I don't hear any objection, so I'll assume that it is.
That means that during every second that gravity is the only force on an object,
the object either gains 9.8m/s of downward speed, or it loses 9.8m/s of upward
speed. (The same thing.)
If the rock starts out going up at 14.2 m/s, and loses 9.8 m/s of upward speed
every second, it runs out of upward gas in (14.2/9.8) = <em>1.449 seconds</em> (rounded)
At that point, since it has no more upward speed, it can't go any higher. Right ?
(crickets . . .)
Explanation:
The equation of motion of an object is given by :

Where
t is the time in seconds
We need to find the time when the object hits the ground. When the object hits the ground, h(t) = 0
So,


On solving above equation using online calculator, t = 8 seconds. So, the object hit the ground after 8 seconds. Hence, this is the required solution.