CollegeBoard SAT Physics Study Guide PT1 Q5

CollegeBoard's Book

5) This question asks for the situation with the greatest acceleration. Since Newton's 2nd Law(F = ma) tells us that acceleration is directly related with force, we can draw the force diagrams to make it easier.

From these free body diagrams, we can tell that all the only force acting on the objects is gravity. The force due to gravity has a constant acceleration, so all situations should have the same acceleration.

Answer: E