Misconceptions About Falling Objects

If you drop a heavy object and a light object simultaneously, which one will reach the ground first? A lot of people will say the heavy object, but what about those who know both will land at the same time? What do they think? Some believe both objects have the same gravitational pull on them and/or both fall to the ground with the same constant speed. Neither of these things is true, however. The force is greater on the heavy object and both objects accelerate at the same rate as they approach the earth, i.e. they both speed up but at the same rate.

[XSFlanger]

You should've told them about Terminal Velocity, although that might be an overkill for them :D The reason why both balls are hitting ground simultaneously, is because neither of them has time to reach Terminal Velocity. Assuming you drop them from sufficient height (let's say 200th floor), ball with less mass (and less weight force acting on it) will reach terminal velocity faster and stop accelerating, as drag/resistance (aerodynamic drag in this example) force's vector counteracts weight vector and prevents it from further acceleration. The heavier ball continues to accelerate, as drag needs more time to counteract, so it hits ground first. Eventually heavier ball will also reach terminal velocity, but it will be faster.

Interestingly in vacuum, there is no drag and only gravity is affecting them, so both balls will hit ground exactly at the same time, heck even if you put a feather there, it will drop with the same speed :)

[Rabbitthat]

This is what happens when we have education systems which test how well you can remember things instead of how well you can understand them. After the test what is left in the person''s head is fancy words that they throw out without understanding.. then when they get down to it they have the same intelligent but untested hypothesis that people 1000 years ago had. .. which turn out to be wrong.

[michael-gary-scott]

1:56 - "I said the weight was different, I didn't say the pull was different"


... kill me

[kae_chips]

"After learning Physics we learned it is actually the same"
Someone's not been paying attention in the classroom.

[vladimirudjaji]

"In pure general relativity, gravity is not a force. It is the curvature of spacetime causing objects to obey the geodesic equation. This is a geometrical feature: the geodesic equation has no mass dependence. In free fall, the objects are unaware of their acceleration. In their frame the objects are at rest with respect to the rest of the universe."- Brain Edward Cox. Physics Professor.

[AnuarPhysics]

As you are asking it "yes", but scientifically speaking "no". LOL

[Mankepanke]

"I'm sorry, Jared"
Don't be sorry for learning something and adjusting your beliefs. That's the best a person could do.

[vejymonsta]

Force
F=m*a

Acceleration due to gravity
a=9.8m/s/s

mass of one ball is twice that of another
m1=2Kg
m2=1Kg

F1=19.6N
F2=9.8N

The acceleration due to the Earth's gravity is equal on all falling objects within the gravitational field. The velocity/speed of the object varies depending on aerodynamics and the density of the surrounding material. The force depends upon how massive the object is. Our senses can trick us into thinking that heavy things fall faster because they are more difficult to hold. But the truth is that when you are holding a heavy object, the force due to gravity is still acting upon it. We feel the force of our hands countering the force of gravity. The ball is always accelerating at 9.8m/s/s, from the perspective of the Earth's center. For us to hold the ball in place, we need to exert a force equal in magnitude and negative of the force of gravity. It's easier to understand if you think about it as you playing tug of war with the Earth, except the Earth always wins.

[minecraftgoldenfire]

0:55 look! a wild herbert the pervert has appeared!

[MrCmon]

We tend to forget about inertia, because friction often is more dominant in day to day life.
You are doing a great job of clearing this up for people.

[toppantoster]

To be precise, the black(heavier) object actually hits the ground first if it has the same size as the basketball. It is, because of the air drag. Its not a big difference in this short height example, but it is there. Try it from a 30-40m high tower and you will see the difference.

[mrpengywinz]

There is so much arguing below this comment, it's not even funny. It's like literally everyone is falling victim to the same exact misconceptions in this video, getting all spun around and confused.
Let's get everything sorted out:
-Gravity is a force of attraction between two objects
-Objects with greater masses require greater forces to accelerate (that is, to change the object's velocity)
-Weight is due to the force of gravity acting upon objects with mass, and is constant and directly proportional to mass.
Everyone clear with that? Everyone get that?
Well here's where people get confused:
-Objects falling to Earth do NOT experience "different gravities" or "constant speed"
-OBJECTS FALLING TO EARTH HAVE *CONSTANT ACCELERATION*
-This means, all objects, regardless of mass, will increase in velocity as they fall at the same exact rate.
-On Earth, this rate is 9.8 m/s²
-This means, yes, any two objects falling from the SAME height, regardless of weight, will strike the ground at the same time, for this reason:
-Objects with greater mass require greater force to accelerate
-This greater force is supplied by weight
-Therefore, if weight and inertia cancel out, then rate of acceleration is equal regardless of mass
_yeah well they still won't hit the ground at the same time cuz of air resistance_
-Air resistance is a different principle entirely than gravity
-IN A VACUUM, acceleration due to gravity is constant.
_uhuh, well they still wont hit the ground at the same time cuz hes not holding them at exactly exact heights hes just holding them with his hands its imprecise_
Welp! There ya go, you caught me redhanded. I guess they won't hit the ground at the same time because he's not aBLE TO HOLD TWO OBJECTS AT EXACT HEIGHTS ON -A SUBATOMIC LEVEL WITH HIS BARE HANDS
-Oh wait, that point is mute, because this is cLASSICAL PHYSICS, not Quantum Physics
Now would everybody just shUT UP??

[willoughbykrenzteinburg]

Yes. Any time the fundamentals of gravity are being discussed, it is almost always assumed drag is being ignored.

[emanuelcozmanciuc]

If the height is great enough (i.e. drop them from a height of 1km), the heavier ball will reach the ground faster.
That's because terminal velocity will be higher for the heavier ball (assuming the balls are identical in every other way, except mass).
In other words, both balls accelerate at the same identical rate. But the heavier one will keep accelerating after the lighter ball already reached its "top speed".
Terminal velocity is reached when the gravitational force equals air resistance. As the video said, the force is greater on the heavy object - greater force will need to be balanced by greater air resistance. Greater air resistance implies greater speed.

Much love <3

[Nonamelol.]

It’s important to mention that eventually the heavier ball will end up accelerating faster than the lighter ball. “Will the balls drop at the same time?” Is subject to the distance at which they’re dropped. At a short height, they’ll drop at the same time in our perspective. If dropped from let’s say a 10 story building, the heavier ball will reach the ground before the lighter ball does. It’s all relative. I was confused about this experiment for a good 2 weeks before I deeply looked into this and I’m sure others were too.

[juliep.]

lol at the blonde chick who 'did decently in physics'

[chroma]

These were the good ol' days, now I see imaginary incomprehensible space time fabric curvatures which the balls follow upon "falling".

[PrajwalDSouza]

Actually, the *heavier one falls to the ground first* ( _in an extreme case_, this is evident).

I quote from 'Fundamental of Physics: Halliday, Resnick, Walker'
"The acceleration of the apple is about 9.8 m/s^2, the familiar
acceleration of a falling body near Earth’s surface. The acceleration of
Earth, However, measured in a reference frame attached to the center of mass of
the apple–Earth system is only about 1 x 10^25 m/s^2."

We often ignore the acceleration of the Earth on the surface of the ball, which is small but depends on the mass of the ball.
And one cannot avoid with when the mass of the ball is very large (as large as the mass of the moon)

Here's a question, Which would fall on the (come in contact with) the Earth first when dropped from the same height (kept at the same distance from the surface of the earth)?
The moon or the sun?

[DominicLondon]

WOW, that simple explanation at the end clears up everything. This topic confused me for a while. Because F = ma, I thought well, the force must be greater and it is, but more force is required for the same amount of acceleration.

[smaklilu]

well he didn't mention air resistance, if he would have been comparing a ball and a piece of paper that would be self explanatory. i guess most people have hard time thinking that a piece of paper and a ball fall at the same rate in in a vacuum.