if you had 2 things like a one wieghing 10000kg and another 50kg and you let them go from a place of like 12feet high which one will land first?
2007-01-06 10:21:09 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Ignoring friction moving through the air they will land at the same time. If one has a much larger surface area it will be slowed more by air friction. There was an experiment demonstrating this on the Apollo 15 mission. A hammer and a feather were dropped and they fell at the same rate.
Read the story and watch the video at this site...
http://www1.jsc.nasa.gov/er/seh/feather.html
2007-01-06 10:38:38 · answer #1 · answered by Warren914 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Assuming that gravity is the only force that acts on the objects (air resistance is ignored), they will land faster. Let me demonstrate.
F = ma so a = F/m
The larger the mass, the larger will be the force due to gravity (or the weight) but then since the larger the mass, the lesser is the acceleration, the two effects would just cancel each other out. So in effect, the acceleration will just be the same and will be equal in magnitude (a = -g = 9.8 m/s^2). If you don't believe me, let's consider the situation above:
For body no. 1,
the weight is (9.8m/s^2)*(10000 kg). This will be the force.
so the acceleration is:
a = F / m
<=> (9.8 m/s^2)*10000 kg / 10000 kg
<=> 9.8m/s^2
!!! It will be the same for a 50-kg body.
Hope this helps...
2007-01-07 05:41:44 · answer #2 · answered by homework 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
they will both land at the same time because gravity pulls an object at the same force regardless of the objects mass.
e.g. A feather placed on top of a book and dropped will hit the ground at the same time, because the book shields the feather from wind resistance. If there is no wind and you drop them separated from eachother, then they will hit at the same time.
So it all depends on wind resistance.
2007-01-06 18:49:10 · answer #3 · answered by Stephanie_ is_ bomb. 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It would depend on the shape and the air resistance. Both would accelerate at the same rate. If you did this on the moon in vacuum, they would hit the ground at the same time. In fact, in a vacuum, if you drop a bowling ball and a feather, they will hit the ground at the same time.
2007-01-06 18:34:31 · answer #4 · answered by ZeedoT 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you dont specify the problem... it is easy to see this problem. if you, lets say expand the mass and shape the10000kg into a boat shape, then air resistance will slow it down. it all depends on the shape of the object. so i would say they both hit the ground at the same instant...
next time give more details... (shape of the object etc.)
2007-01-06 18:47:49 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If they are roughly the same size, they would land at the same time. If one had more surface area(drag) then it would slow the object down and land second.
2007-01-06 18:25:03 · answer #6 · answered by Rick R 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They will land at the same time, because everything has the same amount of gravity pulling on them!
2007-01-06 18:24:47 · answer #7 · answered by Tiffany 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
both will land at the same time
2007-01-07 00:33:25 · answer #8 · answered by Neelu 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If weight is the only difference then they will hit at the same time.
Michael
2007-01-06 18:29:26 · answer #9 · answered by PrayerRequestBox 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
both of them will hit the ground at the exactly same time.
mass has no effect.
2007-01-06 18:23:04 · answer #10 · answered by 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋