Compare the acceleration of the rock at the instant just after it leaves your hand with its acceleration at the instant just before it lands back in your hand

Question

You toss a rock straight up. Compare the acceleration of the rock at the instant just after it leaves your hand with its acceleration at the instant just before it lands back in your hand, which has remaind at the point of release.

Answer 1

Because air resistance is negligible for a rock tossed in the air, the acceleration is $9.8ms^{-2}$ downward at both instants. The acceleration due to gravity is constant near Earth's surface, and the rock experiences that acceleration at all instants during its round trip.