A friend throws a heavy ball toward you while you are standing on smooth ice. You can either catch the ball or deflect it back toward your friend. What should you do in order to maximize your speed right after your interaction with the ball? A. You should catch the ball.
B. You should let the ball go past you without touching it.
C. You should deflect the ball back toward your friend.
D. More information is required to determine how to maximize your speed.
E. It doesn't matter. Your speed is the same regardless of what you do.

A. You should catch the ball.

Explanation:

Catching the ball maximizes your speed by converting most of the momentum of the flying ball into the momentum of you and the ball. Since the ice is smooth, the friction between your feet and the ice is almost negligible, meaning less energy is needed to set your body in motion. Catching the ball means that you and the ball undergoes an inelastic collision, and part of the kinetic energy of the ball is transferred to you, setting you in motion. Deflecting the ball will only give you a relatively small speed compared to catching the ball.

air exerts forces on falling objects near earth’s surface.

explanation:

the term 'free falls' refer to object that are falling towards the earth, in a situation in which gravity is the only force acting on the object.

for an object in free fall, the acceleration is constant (g, the gravitational acceleration), and so the velocity of the object constantly increases.

for objects near earth's surface, there is always another force acting on the object: the resistance due to the air. this force is opposed to the direction of fall of the object, and it is proportional to the velocity of the object, so as the object falls down, this force increases up to a point when it balances the force of gravity, and the object continues its motion at constant velocity (called terminal velocity). since in this case gravity is not the only force acting on the object, we are not in a situation of free fall.