Educator

Freely Falling Objects

• Near the surface of the Earth, the acceleration due to gravity is a constant given by 9.8 m/s² and it is always directed vertically down.
• When dealing with objects moving up and down, displacement, velocity, and acceleration may be positive or negative. Usually, the upward direction is chosen as the positive direction; then, any quantity directed downward (such as the acceleration due to gravity) is negative.