If a penny and a bowling ball were dropped from the same height, wich one would land first?

Answer 1

in a vacuum neither in air the one with the least resistance per unit of weight

LOVE IT WHEN PEOPLE DON"T THINK lol

the automatic 'same time' assumes the vacuum - or leaves and rocks would fall at the same rate now wouldn't they !

Answer 2

WRONG! A lot of people here are saying they would land at the same time. That is not exactly true. It depends on where they are dropped. Close to the ground? Same time. In a vacuum from any height at all? Same time. Go up top of a building and drop them, however, and the bowling ball will easily land first. Air and wind resistance would keep the penny afloat; relatively speaking of course! It would fall slower.

Answer 3

Repeat the experiment with a feather and a bowling ball off a swingset. I guarantee that the ball hits the ground first. But place both items in a vacuum, and a mysterious thing happens: both fall at the same rate! Why? It is called air resistance.
In the vacuum, there is no air molecules to interact with either item, so they both accelerate with the gravity constant: 9.8 m/s^2 downwards. However, outside the vacuum, while both accelerate with the gravity constant, the air molecules have a stronger effect on the feather than the bowling ball. The shape of the feather provides more surface area to be acted upon by air molecules, which slows the rate of descent of the feather. The bowling ball's shape allows it to overcome the air resistance better.
The same occurs with the penny and bowling ball: there is more flat surface area on the penny, allowing more air molecules to strike it at any one time than the bowling ball.

Answer 4

Full points to Mr. Taco! He's got the "hottest" answer! Friction has a major influence, depending on where they are dropped from and the atmospheric pressure. Close to the ground could be 32 ft per second or 9.8 meters per second, but higher altitudes affect the equation by involving more friction and other scalars and vectors that get factored in, like wind conditions, particles in the air, cold fronts and warm fronts, and where these forces are coming from. A bowling ball may get caught in a thunderstorm with an 60 mph wind up draft from the North; whereas, the penny may get caught in down draft from the East at 2 mph!

Answer 5

Same time,a feather and a bowling ball dropped in a vacuum would land at the same time.Acceleration is 32 feet per second/per second regardless of mass or weight or volume.Wind resistance creates differences when objects are dropped in the atmosphere.

Answer 6

if you don't count on friction in the air, they will both land at the same time, however, the friction on the large surface of the bowling ball will not slow it down as much as the flopping of the penny as it gets close to horizontal and the air pressure beneath it is very large compared to the weith of the penny.
in the case of thruth with air, the penny comes in last.

Answer 7

assuming you are dropping in air, both of them will land at the same time. but if you are dropping it underwater the bowling ball will land first.

Answer 8

Same in a vaccuum. In an atmosphere, the penny first by a miniscule amount (less air resistance).

Answer 9

bowling ball. since it is heavier than the penny, the gravtional force is more.

Answer 10

they will land the same time