Question

When a body is dropped from a height it falls with an acceleration of $10m/s^2.$ If the mass of the body is $250g$, how much force is exerted on it downwards? Who exerts this force on the body?

Answer 1

Step 1: Given data:
Given the mass of the body $\left(m\right)=250g=0.25kg(\sin ce1000g=1kg)$
Acceleration of the free-falling body $\left(a\right)=10m/s^2.$
Step 2: Using Newton's second law
$$\begin{gathered} F=Force \\ m=mass \\ a=acceleration \end{gathered}$$
Calculating the force by substituting the value of mass and acceleration using Newton's second law.
$$\begin{gathered} F=(0.25)\times \left(10\right) \\ F=2.5N \end{gathered}$$
Hence the force experienced by the body in the downward direction is equal to $2.5N$. This downward force is exerted by the earth which is known as gravitational force.