Question

A freely falling body whose acceleration is equal to the acceleration due to gravity but its initial velocity may or may not be zero.
A. True
B. False

Answer 1

Hint: Recall the concept of free fall. Recall the condition related with the force acting on an object in the free fall. Also recall the condition related with the initial velocity of the object for an object to be in the free fall. Hence, determine the value of the acceleration of the object in free fall is equal to acceleration due to gravity or not.

Complete answer:
We know that when an object is said to fall freely under the influence of gravity. There is only one force acting on an object in the free fall. This only force acting on this object in free fall is the gravitational force which is equal to weight of the object.The weight of the object includes the value of acceleration equal to the acceleration due to gravity.Hence, the only acceleration acting on the object in the free fall is acceleration due to gravity due to the attraction towards the Earth.

The initial velocity of the object can be zero or non-zero because the only condition for an object to be in free fall is the acceleration of the object should be equal to acceleration due to gravity.Therefore, the given statement about the object in a free fall is true.

Hence, the correct option is A.

Note: The students may think that the velocity of an object in free fall is continuously increasing when it is moving towards the ground. Then how can the acceleration due to gravity act continuously on the object in the free fall. But the students should keep in mind that the object in the free fall is in the accelerated motion in which the velocity is increasing with a constant rate resulting in the net acceleration equal to acceleration due to gravity.