Free Fall

As long as we can neglect air resistance, we find that all objects fall with the same acceleration, 9.8 m/s^2.

Air resistance does make a difference--a big difference--if we drop a piece of paper or a feather in the air.

In a vacuum, a feather and a coin fall together because there is no air resistance.

Apollo 15 astronaut David Scott dropped a hammer and feather which fell together since there is no air resistance on the moon's surface.

As long as we can neglect air resistance, we find that all objects fall with the same acceleration, 9.8 m/s².
This actual acceleration of 9.8 m/s² is approximately 10 m/s² (to within 2%) and that is much easier to use for calculations, so we will usually use that as an approximation.

As long as we can neglect air resistance, we find that all objects fall with the same acceleration, 10 m/s².

Let's throw a ball up with initial velocity of v_i = 20 m/s and see what happens.

Remember our approximation of g = 10 m/s².


Acceleration	Back to "Motion" Page		Summary


As long as we can neglect air resistance, we find that all objects fall with the same acceleration, 9.8 m/s^2.
Air resistance does make a difference--a big difference--if we drop a piece of paper or a feather in the air. In a vacuum, a feather and a coin fall together because there is no air resistance.
	Apollo 15 astronaut David Scott dropped a hammer and feather which fell together since there is no air resistance on the moon's surface.
As long as we can neglect air resistance, we find that all objects fall with the same acceleration, 9.8 m/s². This actual acceleration of 9.8 m/s² is approximately 10 m/s² (to within 2%) and that is much easier to use for calculations, so we will usually use that as an approximation. As long as we can neglect air resistance, we find that all objects fall with the same acceleration, 10 m/s².

Let's throw a ball up with initial velocity of v_i = 20 m/s and see what happens. Remember our approximation of g = 10 m/s².