Until Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) proved otherwise, people believed that a heavier object has a greater acceleration in a free fall. This experimentally determined fact is unexpected because we are so accustomed to the effects of air resistance and friction that we expect light objects to fall slower than heavy ones.
The most remarkable and unexpected fact about falling objects is that if air resistance and friction are negligible, then in a given location all objects fall toward the center of Earth with the same constant acceleration, independent of their mass. If a ball is thrown upward, the equations of free fall apply equally to its ascent as well as its descent. But “falling,” in the context of free fall, does not necessarily imply the body is moving from a greater height to a lesser height. For example, we can estimate the depth of a vertical mine shaft by dropping a rock into it and listening for the rock to hit the bottom. Let’s assume the body is falling in a straight line perpendicular to the surface, so its motion is one-dimensional. Solve for the position, velocity, and acceleration as functions of time when an object is in a free fall.Īn interesting application of Equation 3.4 through Equation 3.14 is called free fall, which describes the motion of an object falling in a gravitational field, such as near the surface of Earth or other celestial objects of planetary size.Describe how the values of the position, velocity, and acceleration change during a free fall.Use the kinematic equations with the variables y and g to analyze free-fall motion.By the end of this section, you will be able to:
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