A pole is fixed on a car, and a ball is fixed at the end of the pole, as shown. What's the direction of the net force on the ball when the car accelerates with a constant acceleration to the right ?
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Relevant wiki: Newton's Second Law
The net force is always in the same direction as the acceleration. The ball is accelerating to the right, therefore the net force should go to the right.
While there are vertical forces like gravity and the constraint force from the pole, they cancel each other out.