# A tennis ball is held at rest against a wall by a player's hand. Explain, using Newton's laws, what happens to the forces on the ball when the player removes their hand and allows the ball to fall freely.

> OCR GCSE Physics A: Gateway Science (J249) — P2.2 Newton's laws · Explain · 4 marks

> A tennis ball is pressed against a smooth vertical wall. The player holds the ball in place with their hand, then lets go. The ball then falls straight down.

## Mark scheme (4 marks)

1. Whilst held stationary, the forces on the ball are balanced / the resultant force is zero
2. Newton's First Law: because the resultant force is zero, the ball remains stationary
3. When the hand is removed, the only force acting is weight / gravity acting vertically downwards, so there is now a resultant force
4. Newton's Second Law / First Law: the resultant force (weight) causes the ball to accelerate downwards

## Related

- [Revision notes for OCR GCSE Physics A: Gateway Science (J249)](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/learn)
- [How to answer "Explain" questions](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/tools/command-word-cheatsheet)
- [Practice this with AI marking (free)](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/start)

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