Assume that a catcher in a MLB game exerts a force of   - 65.0 N to stop a baseball. If the baseball has a mass of 0.145 kg, what is its acceleration as it is being caught?

Sure, let's solve this step by step:

1. First, we need to understand the problem. We know the force exerted on the baseball is -65.0 N and the mass of the baseball is 0.145 kg. We need to find the acceleration of the baseball.

2. We will use Newton's second law of motion, which states that the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting on it and inversely proportional to its mass. This can be written as F = ma, where F is the force, m is the mass, and a is the acceleration.

3. We can rearrange the formula to solve for acceleration: a = F/m.

4. Now we can substitute the given values into the formula: a = -65.0 N / 0.145 kg.

5. When you do the division, you get approximately -448.28 m/s².

So, the acceleration of the baseball as it is being caught is -448.28 m/s². The negative sign indicates that the acceleration is in the opposite direction of the force, which makes sense because the baseball is slowing down.