Answered

Westonci.ca is your go-to source for answers, with a community ready to provide accurate and timely information. Get detailed and accurate answers to your questions from a dedicated community of experts on our Q&A platform. Join our platform to connect with experts ready to provide precise answers to your questions in different areas.

Why is acceleration negative in a free fall?

Sagot :

TaylorBayley
Technically speaking altitude is measured from the ground up.
Therefore, say you're falling from 1000 metres, that number decreases till it reaches 0. Therefore, you're accelerating but towards the ground i.e. towards 0.

Therefore acceleration is negative because you're travelling at -x metres per second and accelerating at -x metres per second^2
AL2006
Only because when most people work with vertical motion, they call the upward direction positive. So falling objects have negative velocity and acceleration. But if you prefer to call the downward direction positive, you have every right to do that. Then the force of gravity on a falling object, as well as its velocity and acceleration, are all positive, and its negative altitude steadily grows until it hits the ground.
We hope our answers were useful. Return anytime for more information and answers to any other questions you have. We hope you found what you were looking for. Feel free to revisit us for more answers and updated information. Thank you for choosing Westonci.ca as your information source. We look forward to your next visit.