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...The problem is over the sign of g, the gravitational acceleration.
I can't seem to explain to them why this is.
They tell me the book says it is positive.
....
In the conventional coordinate system where the Z axis points vertically
upward, the z-component of the g vector will be a negative number -- but
this is not something of physical signficance; it depends on the arbitrary
choice of Z axis.
c) It is OK to say g dot Z is negative, for certain arbitrary
choices of Z.
I've
always taken points away from students that don't define the
coordinate system they are using in a given problem;