Pull of gravity?

Question

Gravity pulls at an object at 16 ft/sec.
If I throw an object vertically, as in straight up into the air with no curve at all, gravity will pull on it at 16 ft/sec

But if I throw an object in an arc, or in between a vertical and horizontal path, shouldn't gravity pull on it at 8ft/sec?

sorry, I meant acceleration at 16 ft/sec/sec

Answer 1

nope. acceleration at 16ft a second a second (i only used his 16ft/s/s cos i'm not a yank, i guess i presumed he'd be right)
9.8m/s/s

you try it :)


by that logic, wouldn't throwing it horizontally mean gravity doesnt accelerate it? so it never hits the floor?

Answer 2

Time out for a second. Gravity creates an acceleration of 32.174 ft/sec^2 at the earth's surface. Not sure where you got 16 ft/sec, but it is incorrect. This acceleration comes in the form of a vector, which always points downward toward the center of the earth. Any problem involving gravity and objects traveling at angles relative to the surface of the earth are generally solved via vector analysis, with this 32.174 ft/sec^2 downward acting either by itself or resolved into components in accordance with the boundary conditions that you are given. It is a little more difficult than what you are describing. Not a lot more difficult, but it's pretty tough to do without a full blown free body diagram.

ADDED: Oh - I assume you must be talking about someplace other than the earth, then. OK - but gravity always provides a constant acceleration on all objects, and this is regardless of whether you drop them, fling them upwards, sideways, or spin them. They will always fall at the same rate of acceleration. A classic example is a bullet fired horizontally from a gun. If you drop a bullet from the same height as the muzzle and at the same instant that you fire a bullet horizontally from the gun, then both bullets will hit the ground simultaneously (neglecting curvature of the earth's surface).

In the same sense, if you fire one bullet upwards at a 45 degree angle and toss another bullet straight up to the SAME HEIGHT as the one you fired, then they will also hit the ground simultaneously. Again, you really need a diagram to solve the problem. Good luck, hope this helpful.

ADDED 2: 32.174 ft/sec^2 is equivalent to 32.174 ft/sec/sec

Answer 3

speed at 16ft a second a second