Falling objects (without air resistance) all fall at the same... velocity or speed?

Question

Velocity is speed and direction.
Speed is just... speed.

My dilemma is this: If you drop two objects and there is no air resistance, they WILL fall at the same speed. However, is it or is it not relevant that they will also fall in the same direction (i.e. velocity)?

Any help with this Physics questions is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Technically you are correct. However, since the objects are dropping "straight" down, there is no other component of the vector to worry about and the speed and velocity are numerically equal.

Answer 2

The objects will fall with the same acceleration -- if dropped at the same time their speeds will match (ignoring air resistance). The direction of fall is toward the center of the earth, or what we call down. That direction varies. Down at the North pole is opposite from down at the South pole. Since velocity depends on direction the velocity of a falling object is opposite at opposite poles.

Answer 3

A) = B) = 9.8 m/s Forget air resistance. Elementary physics problems don't take this into account because the effect is too small and the math is horribly complicated. It's incorrect to say that the rate of any object in free fall is 9.8 m/s. Correct: The ACCELERATION of an object in free fall is 9.8 m/s² toward the center of the earth

Answer 4

The objects will fall in one direction: down.

But down depends on where you are.

Down at the North Pole and down at the South Pole are totally opposite directions. Down in London is not the same as down in Los Angeles.

By convention, we say that gravity pulls down. In reality, it pulls towards the center of mass of the Earth.

This means that objects fall with an acceleration that has a constant numerical value, and if dropped from identical heights at the same moment, they will have identical speeds, but not identical velocities.

Answer 5

Falling objects fall at the same ..... acceleration. Neither speed nor velocity because both vary according to the height from which they fall. Only the acceleration due to gravity is constant,

Answer 6

They fall with the same speed and velocity at a given instant of time. Both speed and velocity change with time. More important is that they both fall with the same acceleration at all times.

In this case, direction is not relevant as it is the same in both cases.

Answer 7

The fall with the same speed ( g = 10m/s^2 for all objects)
They fall in same direction (obvious)
Hence combining the two they fall with the same velocity.

Answer 8

It is relevant. The reason they fall at all is gravity. Gravity determines the velocity. Objects can't fall away from earth because that goes against gravity.

Answer 9

I'm not sure of your question. If they're dropped, that is without any force behind them to give them motion, they'll go straight down. There is no other direction they can go in.
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Answer 10

Without air resistance !!!!!!! Would they not have to be in a vacuum?