What is the change in velocity of a ball during the second before reaching its highest point?

To determine the change in velocity of a ball during the second before reaching its highest point, it is important to consider how velocity behaves during projectile motion, particularly under the influence of gravity.

As the ball rises towards its highest point, it is moving upward with an initial velocity. During this time, the force of gravity acts downward on the ball, causing it to decelerate. The gravitational acceleration near the surface of the Earth is approximately -9.8 m/s², often rounded to -10 m/s² for simplicity in many introductory physics problems.

In the second leading up to the highest point of the ball's trajectory, the ball experiences a consistent downward acceleration due to gravity. Therefore, the change in velocity can be calculated as the product of time and acceleration. Since we are looking for the change over one second and using an approximate gravitational acceleration of -10 m/s², the velocity decreases by about 10 m/s during that second.

At the highest point, the velocity is momentarily zero. Thus, if the ball was moving upward before that second, a change in velocity of -10 m/s accurately represents the reduction in velocity experienced as the ball slows down under the force of gravity before it comes to a halt momentarily at