An archer shoots an arrow straight up with a force of 24.5 N. The arrow has a mass of 0.4 kg. What is the force of gravity on the arrow? (a) $9.8{\text{m/s}}^2$
(b) $9.8\text{ N}$
(c) $61.25\text{ N}$
(d) $3.9\text{ N}$

Video Transcript

This is College Physics Answers with Shaun Dychko. This question is trying to trick you with some irrelevant information. It says that there is a force applied of 24.5 newtons and that doesn't matter because the situation here with the arrow in the air is a time after this force is finished being applied. When the arrow is in the air, the only force that's relevant is gravity. We have a formula for that, which is the mass times this gravitational field strength, or also known as acceleration due to gravity. We can calculate this gravity by multiplying the 0.4 kilogram mass of the arrow by 9.8 meters per second squared, which is 3.92 newtons that is option D.