If the weight of an object of 1 kg is 10 Newtons then how does every object fall with the same acceleration (acceleration due to gravity / acceleration of free fall)?
I'm asking this because if every object has a different weight and so exerts a different amount of force towards the ground, wouldn't the acceleration differ for each of the objects?
Answers
Answer:
As learned in an earlier unit, free fall is a special type of motion in which the only force acting upon an object is gravity. Objects that are said to be undergoing free fall, are not encountering a significant force of air resistance; they are falling under the sole influence of gravity. Under such conditions, all objects will fall with the same rate of acceleration, regardless of their mass. But why? Consider the free-falling motion of a 1000-kg baby elephant and a 1-kg overgrown mouse.
If Newton's second law were applied to their falling motion, and if a free-body diagram were constructed, then it would be seen that the 1000-kg baby elephant would experiences a greater force of gravity. This greater force of gravity would have a direct effect upon the elephant's acceleration; thus, based on force alone, it might be thought that the 1000-kg baby elephant would accelerate faster. But acceleration depends upon two factors: force and mass. The 1000-kg baby elephant obviously has more mass (or inertia). This increased mass has an inverse effect upon the elephant's acceleration. And thus, the direct effect of greater force on the 1000-kg elephant is offset by the inverse effect of the greater mass of the 1000-kg elephant; and so each object accelerates at the same rate - approximately 10 m/s/s. The ratio of force to mass (Fnet/m) is the same for the elephant and the mouse under situations involving free fall.
Explanation:
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