2006-07-19 11:01:26 · 7 answers · asked by Hickemtwiddle 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
It was not Isaac Newton who performed those experiments from the Leaning Tower of Piza. It was Galileo Galilei.
The speed at which an object falls does so by the formula S=½GT² The acceleration due to gravity is 32
feet per second². The speed depends on gravity which is a constant and the time that it took to fall squared.
He did those experiments with the effect of our own atmosphere. ALL objects fall to the earth at exactly the same speed whether they be a balling ball, a feather, a wiffle ball or whatever. An experiment was tried where a person shot a rifle and another bullet was set up to fall to the earth at the instant the rifle bullet left the rifle, and even that took the same amount of time. The earth's gravity pulled one down straight to the ground and the fired bullet had an arc that it had to travel (trajectory) to follow before hitting the earth, and they were exactly the same. For very small objects like a bullet made of lead, it works out the same. Larger objects have more air to displace so the times are different plus the whiffle ball has openings in it for the wind to get into which slows it down.
If Galileo had done this experiment in a vacuum, the gravity would still use that formula mentioned above. The other formula that people use does not take gravity into account and that is Velocity Equals Acceleration Times Time or V=AT, but that formula is not accurate for the falling balls because of leaving out gravity in it.
So, the answer is NO. a bowling ball and a whiffle ball would NOT hit the ground at the same time due to the experiment not being done in a vacuum.
2006-07-19 11:43:56 · answer #1 · answered by fingerpicknboys 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Methinks that you are actually thinking of Galileo dropping objects from the Leaning Tower of Pisa. In any case, if this is a test for acceleration due to gravity, then the experiment will be corrupted by the presence of air resistance. The whiffle ball will have a lower density per surface area and be slowed more than the bowling ball. However, I suspect that the acceleration rates would not be too different in a calm wind.
2006-07-19 11:24:28 · answer #2 · answered by Ѕємι~Мαđ ŠçїєŋŧιѕТ 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In a vacuum, it would still work... according to the law... 16 feet per second squared is the rate of change on acceleration on good old terra firma. However, he was smart enough to know that the wiffle ball reaches terminal velocity a lot sooner than the bowling ball because of wind drag and density.
2006-07-19 11:06:55 · answer #3 · answered by madbaldscotsman 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
He would have been hurt more seriously with the bowling ball than a wiffle ball. It was an apple I think that inspired his "gravity" discovery.
2006-07-19 11:06:59 · answer #4 · answered by tjc 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually it was Galileo, not Newton, who first compared the rates of acceleration of two falling objects of different masses. He found that all obects fall at the same rate, and his finding still holds true to this day.
2006-07-19 11:20:25 · answer #5 · answered by James H 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In vacuum, they would accelerate at the same rate so if you dropped them from a tower, they would land at the same time.
The heavier object has a larger gravity force to accelerate it, but a heavy object also needs a larger force to accelerate.
2006-07-19 11:15:08 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
bowling ball didn't exist. and i think the 1st thing that hit him was an apple
:o)
2006-07-19 11:06:17 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋