if two men jump out of a plane one of hte men is 12 stone and 10 stone who lands first?

Answer 1

Assuming they jump and deploy identical parachutes at the same time, the heavier man will land first. With identical parachutes, they both have the same retarding force, but the added weight of the one man's additional 2 stone means the net downward force on him is greater. In free fall, the heavier man may fall slightly faster, as his ratio of surface area to mass, and therefore his aerodynamic drag, is lower. But, they can both vary their falling speed by varying their aerodynamics - spreading the arms vs tucking in, etc.

Answer 2

With regard to Galileo's experiment the people who have mentioned this have neglected to state that it was within a vacuum when the effect of gravity is not affected by aerodynamics. The person who stated that things are weightless is wrong. Weight is the effect of gravity upon a body. Do not confuse this with mass.
The answer to the question is that if both obviously left the plane together then they would both hit the ground at the same time provided that neither resorted to any aerodynamic effect. It could be argued that the 10 stoner would hit the ground first because he would be more aerodynamically efficient. Try it and see.

Answer 3

Assuming that both men leave the airplane with exactly the same components of forwards and downwards velocity, then, if both men adopt a heads downwards (heavens forbid) dive then both should achieve the same terminal velocity (about 200 mph). Hence, both men will die at the same instant (sick!!!). This answer was first provided by Galileo's free fall experiment with a ball of feathers and a heavy dense object dropped at the same instant from the ‘leaning-tower’ of Pisa.

In reality, however, even if both men left the aircraft with exactly the same initial components of velocity, the final answer would depend upon many conditions. If each man adopted a different position during his progress towards the ground then his 'terminal' velocity would vary from that of his fatalistic companion. Furthermore, each man would present a different wind profile and so would experience some possible greater upthrust than the other would. Finally, drag introduced by clothing would slow one of the men's decent while perhaps slip-streaming due to tighter garments would accelerate the others plunge! Skydivers exploit these effects to maximise their sport.

The short answer, then, is that in terms of classical gravitational physics (ignoring air resistance (drag)) both men would strike at the same instant. The more complex analysis would suggest that the impact times (and deaths) would depend upon many factors and so the answer must be either!

Answer 4

If they both jumped out at the exact same point, then they would both hit the ground at the same time. (Neglecting air resistance)

The acceleration due to gravity is completely independent of mass.

However, taking into account the effects of air resistance, the 10 stone man may land first, as the 12 stone man would be likely to have a larger surface area, thus creating more drag and slowing him down...

Answer 5

Unfortunately the answers you have are mostly wrong.. The first person to hit the ground would depend on how they fell, even if they jumped at the same time. You must remember that falling objects often tumble as they fall and clothing would cause different effects to the object as it fell. Allowing for all the variables it is probable that the heaviest would hit the ground first.

Answer 6

if the both jumped at the same time and in the same way, had identical aerodynamic properties and fell sufficiently far the heavier man would land first. if the distance was not very great they would not reach terminal velocity and would both land at the same time however the heavier man has a larger terminal velocity (as air resistance needs to be higher to counteract his weight) so he will land first if they start from high enough

Answer 7

I they jump simultaneously, then the one that is most aerodynamic, averaged out over the time they are falling, will hit the ground first. (If they are spining or tumbling, the aerodymanics of each will change continuously)

This is basically a restatement of Galileo's famous experiment with a cannonball and a feather. I am sure you can search lots of info on that, probably wikipedia is a good place to look.

Answer 8

The most aerodynamic if both jump together, or the least determined to try to prevent hitting the floor - by standing on the other one, pushing the other one down, or flapping like a (fat) bird

Answer 9

If we take air resistance out of the equation they would both land at the same time as every object irrespective of mass is pulled towards the centre of gravity at the same accelerating speed

Answer 10

The one who jumps out first