Here's why:
* Neglecting Air Resistance: We assume there's no air resistance for simplicity. This means the only force acting on the football vertically is gravity.
* Acceleration due to Gravity: The acceleration due to gravity is a constant value of approximately 9.8 m/s². It acts downwards, meaning the football's vertical velocity decreases as it travels upwards and increases as it falls back down.
Therefore, the acceleration of the football in the vertical direction is approximately -9.8 m/s². The negative sign indicates that the acceleration is downwards.
Important Note: The initial velocity of 31 m/s and the angle of 41 degrees are relevant to the horizontal and vertical components of the initial velocity. They don't directly affect the acceleration due to gravity.
