an apple is falling from a tree. disregarding air resistance, which diagram shows the free - body diagram of…

Explanation:

Step1: Identify forces acting on apple

When an apple is falling from a tree and air - resistance is neglected, the only force acting on it is the force of gravity ($F_g$) which acts downwards.

Step2: Analyze each diagram

The first diagram has a normal force ($F_N$) acting upwards along with $F_g$ downwards, which is incorrect as there is no surface contact to provide a normal force during free - fall. The third diagram has $F_g$ acting horizontally which is incorrect as gravity acts vertically downwards. The fourth diagram has an additional horizontal force ($F_p$) which is not present when only gravity is considered. The second diagram has only the force of gravity ($F_g$) acting downwards which is correct for a freely - falling object with no air resistance.

Answer:

The second diagram (the one with only a downward - pointing $F_g$ vector)