Gravitational forces act on bodies. Why then doesn't a heavy body fall faster then a light body?

Answer 1

Because after a certain weight, it doesn't matter anymore.

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Answer 2

If you exert a given amount of force on an object, it's acceleration is inversely proportional to it's mass. That means the more massive an object is, the less it will accelerate when you exert a certain amount of force.

Let's say you have two balls. One is red, and the other is blue. The blue ball is 10 times heavier than the red. This means that if you exert ten times more force onto the blue (heavier ball) than on the light, they will move at the same speed, despite the fact that you exerted 10 times more force on the heavier ball. You know this from experience that if you exert twice the force on an object twice as heavy, you get the same motion.

Gravity works the same way, due to the fact that the same mass that causes heavy objects to resist changes in motion is the same mass that causes the gravitational force to exist. Something twice as heavy as another object will have twice the graviational force, but since it always has twice the resistance in motion due to being twice the mass, it will still move at the same original speed. Hence, all falling objects have the same acceleration regardless of weight.

Answer 3

Acceleration is constant, regardless of mass. Both the heavy and light both, starting at rest, would accelerate at the same speed. That is true in a vacuum. In the atmosphere, where air resistence comes into play, the less aerodynamic object, regardless of mass, will tend to meet more air resistence to its motion and thus move slower.