December 08, 2016
Day 2: What Makes Objects Fall at the Same Rate?
Yesterday before we started our experiment some of you believed that the
heavier objects would fall faster than the lighter ones. After preforming
or testing this idea we realized that objects fall at the same rate.
Galileo was the first person to test this idea. Galileo tested this reasoning
the same way we did, by dropping objects with different weights off a tall
tower.
Galileo concluded that objects accelerate steadily as they fall and the
objects weight and mass does not affect how fast it accelerates.
The reason for this is Gravity.
Gravity: The attraction between the mass of Earth and the mass of an
object.
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December 08, 2016
What Makes Objects Fall at the Same Rate?
*Objects with a larger mass are pulled on by gravity with more force, but
they also have more inertia.
*Remember inertia is an objects tendency to resist a change*
* Because of this extra resistance it offsets the greater pull of gravity.
*Therefore, objects with greater mass fall with the same acceleration as
less massive objects.
December 08, 2016
What about air, does it affect falling objects?
So why did the ball hit first? The first thing we need to understand is
that both objects are passing through the air. Air offers resistance to the
motion of objects that pass through it. (This is known as Air Resistance,
which is a type of friction.)
*The air is providing more resistance to the feathers motion than the ball.
As a result the feather is slowed more than the ball. Therefore the ball
hits the ground first.
*Remember though that air resistance is also acting on the ball its just to
small to matter.
December 08, 2016
What is the acceleration of falling objects?
Whenever we talk about gravity pulling on a object we give it a special
name, weight.
Weight: The force of gravity between Earth and an object.
It is an objects weight that makes it accelerate to the ground. You can
determine an objects weight in newtons by multiplying its mass by 9.8.
December 08, 2016
How can Gravity be Universal?
Newton discovered that Earth's gravity held the moon in orbit, so he
applied his idea to the planets. Newton decided that as mass increases,
the force of gravity increases. Newton aslo released that distance could
also change the force of gravity. This concept help Newton come of with
a new law known as Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation. Sir Isaac
Newton was the first person to publish a complete description of inertia.
Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation: The force of gravity between
two objects increases with mass of objects and decreases with the
distance between them.
So for light objects the force of gravity is weak. For large objects like
planets the force of gravity is greater.
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December 08, 2016
How can Gravity be Universal?
Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation: The force of gravity between
two objects increases with mass of objects and decreases with the
distance between them.
December 08, 2016
Does the weight of an object really matter?
Sometimes weight can cause problems. How would it feel to
ride up a hill on an old steel bicycle compared to a new titanium
one? Why?
Also added weight can provide greater friction or traction
which can make pushing off easier. Think about running on ice,
is it easy or hard to get moving? Why?