if 2 balls are dropped from the same height, but a few seconds apart what happens to the distance between them

Question

neglecting air resistence

Answer 1

the distance remains the same

Answer 2

On earth objects dropped accelerate at a rate of 9.8 meters/second per second (neglecting air resistance).
So until the first ball hits the ground it will always be travelling faster than the second ball.
Say you drop the second ball, B, 3 seconds after the first ball, A. So at time, T, ball A's velocity = T x 9.8m/s
ball B's velocity = (T-3) x 9.8m/s
So the first ball A is always travelling faster than ball B (until it hits the ground). Therefore the distance between the balls is always increasing.


In real life, air resistance will cause the first ball to hit a terminal velocity. The faster it goes the more air resistance it encounters. So at some point, the force of air resistance is equal to the force of gravity and no further acceleration occurs.
Once the second ball also reaches the same terminal velocity the distance between them remains the same.

Answer 3

The distance will continue to increase until both balls reach terminal velocity, or the velocity at which the force of gravity equals the force applied by air resistance. At this speed, the net force is 0 and the distance between the balls will remain constant.

Answer 4

Neglecting air resistance, the first ball will always be travelling faster than the second ball as it's had longer to accelerate. Consequently, as long as they're in free fall, the distance between them will always increase.

Answer 5

After the they both reach terminal velocity the distance would remain the same provided the first did not hit the ground.

Answer 6

32 cm

Answer 7

It stays the same.