Do heavier objects "fall" faster?

[Stoopie]

Originally Posted by ae86_16v Originally Posted by Stoopie Only thing I know is that when I jump in the air, I usually return safely to planet earth Unless you got those new Nike Air Jordans, those make you jump really high .

Well I usually wear these

[philip]

Interesting question.

I assume it would depend on the circumstances.

At some point unless the differences in the two items being dropped were very great. The simple act of measuring the result would change the answer. This has some thing to do with someones cat, I have forgotten the name of the owner, I think it started with an S like Schroder or Schrodenger's Cat.

[silentm]

well as you have an object that is a bit lighter than the other one i imagine it might fall faster towards the earth but probably about this much faster 0.000000000000000000000000000000000000000001 s

so it can't really be seen directly or properly measured (physics is an incredibly accurate science but come on this is quite impossible imo)

if you enlarged the scale, of course the gravity constant will be changed (you want to let it fall higher but you are getting further away from the mass (earth) and so you get 'lighter') so overall it probably can't be proven.

[silentm]

Originally Posted by philip Interesting question. I assume it would depend on the circumstances. At some point unless the differences in the two items being dropped were very great. The simple act of measuring the result would change the answer. This has some thing to do with someones cat, I have forgotten the name of the owner, I think it started with an S like Schroder or Schrodenger's Cat.

you probably mean Schreodingers cat. dunno quite exactly what that's about tho

[malte]

wow there are some interesting theories on this page...

not to try and sound like a smart ass but the guy asks a legitimate question and i see a lot of half assed responses...

gravity is a force working between objects with mass. any object with mass will excert a gravitational pull. gravity has an infinite reach which means that the mass of a needle will have a gravitational pull on the farthest of stars. Needless to say, this force is very weak. this is because gravity is a very weak force, consider the mass of the earth and then the relatively modest force it's gravitational pull excerts on us.

it is therefore true that because a heavier object has a greater mass the gravitational pull or force between it, and the earth will be greater. BUT since this force is so weak the difference in drop speed is practically imeasurable.

hope this helps

[ae86_16v]

Originally Posted by silentm well as you have an object that is a bit lighter than the other one i imagine it might fall faster towards the earth but probably about this much faster 0.000000000000000000000000000000000000000001 s so it can't really be seen directly or properly measured (physics is an incredibly accurate science but come on this is quite impossible imo) if you enlarged the scale, of course the gravity constant will be changed (you want to let it fall higher but you are getting further away from the mass (earth) and so you get 'lighter') so overall it probably can't be proven.

Originally Posted by philip Interesting question. I assume it would depend on the circumstances. At some point unless the differences in the two items being dropped were very great. The simple act of measuring the result would change the answer. This has some thing to do with someones cat, I have forgotten the name of the owner, I think it started with an S like Schroder or Schrodenger's Cat.

Both of you are correct. Fact of the matter is that any object will exert gravational pull on earth, and the more massive object of course will exert more pull.

But the problem is measuring it. It is hard to measure when one object is so much larger than the other. A sphere (steel ball or snow ball) to earth.

It all has to do with relativity.

Fact of the matter is that this was already Proven by Newton's 3rd Law.

Thank you guys.

[ae86_16v]

Originally Posted by malte wow there are some interesting theories on this page... not to try and sound like a smart ass but the guy asks a legitimate question and i see a lot of half assed responses... gravity is a force working between objects with mass. any object with mass will excert a gravitational pull. gravity has an infinite reach which means that the mass of a needle will have a gravitational pull on the farthest of stars. Needless to say, this force is very weak. this is because gravity is a very weak force, consider the mass of the earth and then the relatively modest force it's gravitational pull excerts on us. it is therefore true that because a heavier object has a greater mass the gravitational pull or force between it, and the earth will be greater. BUT since this force is so weak the difference in drop speed is practically imeasurable. hope this helps

Exactly. Thank you Malte .

[malte]

your perfectly welcome... knew this degree in enginering was good for something

[ae86_16v]

Originally Posted by bmw06m6 Does that help. I have to admit Science is something you have or you don't honestly I've always understood this stuff, apply common sense and it will go well.

Originally Posted by bmw06m6 I don't like Wikipedia (because it is grossly just plain wrong most the time) but what the hey.... Newton's Law of Motion 101, something a private christian school teaches to first graders. My niece who is 7 understand this stuff. No offence. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton's_laws_of_motion

You might "understand" science. But you clearly can not read or comprehend the source you posted yourself.

And by the way, common sense is not very common, thank you for proving my point.

[666fast]

Yes, heavier objects to fall faster, air resistance is the key. Butit's only noticeable over long drops.

http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae6.cfm

[philip]

Originally Posted by silentm Originally Posted by philip Interesting question. I assume it would depend on the circumstances. At some point unless the differences in the two items being dropped were very great. The simple act of measuring the result would change the answer. This has some thing to do with someones cat, I have forgotten the name of the owner, I think it started with an S like Schroder or Schrodenger's Cat. you probably mean Schreodingers cat. dunno quite exactly what that's about tho

Yeah thanks, thats the guy, Schreodingers Cat. I'll look it up tonight.

[ae86_16v]

Originally Posted by 666fast Yes, heavier objects to fall faster, air resistance is the key. Butit's only noticeable over long drops. http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae6.cfm

I stated if you do not include aerodynamic properties (drag) .

[79TA]

Force = mass x acceleration and therefore acceleration = force/mass. However, the force applied on a falling object is directly related to its mass (9.81 Newtons of force per kilogram.) Because of this direct relationship, all things fall at the same rate when there is no friction. All things in free fall accelerate at 9.81 meters/second squared

However, in reality, there is friction to worry about. So if the amount of surface area is large relative to the amount of mass, a significant amount of drag will result. For instance, a feather will fall very slowly. If you were to crush and compact this feather into a ball, the surface area and resisting drag would be greatly reduced. The feather would then fall much faster. see, simple

[malte]

at 79TA: im not gonna say you are wrong when stating that all things fall at the same rate(due to the number of significant digits that you seem to involve), but i will say that your explanation is oversimplifying the problem.

You speak of a force, but what you need to include in your conciderations is the fact that the gravitational pull between two objects consists of a contribution from either object.

the force between two objects is given from newtons law of gravitation:

F=(G*M*m)/r^2

where G is the gravitational constant, r is the distance of separation and the masses are denoted M and m respectfully.

this correlation shows that even though the mass of the smaller object (m) is insignificant in relative comparison to the larger object, the fact remains in theory the size of the force increases when either of the masses do...

[graywolf624]

Your arguements aren't all that clear guys. You aren't clearly denoting the objects acceleration.

In absolute terms:
F= mass x acceleration. The force of gravity is directly related to the mass of the object (duh). Your simultaneously changing both the F orce of gravity and the mass on the other side in the same proportion. Thus the masses cancel out leaving acceleration to be unaffected by the individual masses. It is a simple algebra problem. The two items will accelerate and travel at the same speed no matter what the mass. F=G(Mem1/r^2)=m1*a m1 cancels out to G(ME/r^2)=a Where Mass of the earth (Me) Mass of the object m1. r= distance from earth. a= acceleration of object. G= gravitational constant
Thus the rate of acceleration of the object dropped only depends on the distance from the earth!


But... And I say but..
If you take the same objects acceleration relative to the earth you have to account for the movement of the earth itself due to the object.
The earth is accelerating towards the item that is dropped. And the bigger the object the greater the force on the earth.
Again the equation is F=G(Mem1/r^2)= Me*a.... This time Me cancels
Giving you G(m1/r^2)=a on the earth.... Meaning the acceleration of the earth is proportional to the weight of the object.

Thus the answer becomes, what frame of reference are you watching the object from. If you are watching from earth there would be an acceleration difference. If you are watching from a frame of reference from somewhere off planet the objects will accelerate with the same rate.