A 12.0 kg bucket is lowered vertically by a rope in which there is 163N of tension at a given instant. What is the acceleration of the bucket? Is it up or down?
This is what I've done.
f=ma
163N=12.0kg a
163N/ 12.0kg = a
13.6 m/s^2 = a
That should put the bucket going up since it's positive . But it starts saying it's being lowered and I don't really know how the force of gravity fits into it. Any help is appreciated. Thank you