Question

A rubber duck is released from rest near the surface of the earth. It then goes on to fall through a large vertical distance and eventually reaches its terminal velocity. What would happen if this same experiment was repeated near the surface of the moon?

A) The rubber duck would fall at the same rate as on Earth
B) The rubber duck would fall faster than on Earth
C) The rubber duck would fall more slowly than on Earth
D) The rubber duck would not fall at all

Answer 1

The rubber duck would fall more slowly on the Moon than on Earth due to the lower gravitational acceleration on the Moon, which is about 1/6 of Earth's.

Step-by-step explanation:

If a rubber duck is released from rest near the surface of the Moon instead of the Earth, the duck would fall more slowly than on Earth. This is because the gravitational acceleration on the Moon is about 1/6 that of the Earth. With less gravitational pull, objects on the Moon accelerate slower towards its surface, leading to a lower terminal velocity.

Moreover, since the Moon lacks an atmosphere, there's no air resistance to contribute to the terminal velocity, so the duck would continue to accelerate until it impacts the surface. As a result, a complete transformation of the potential energy into kinetic energy would occur by the time the duck hits the surface, as seen in the famous feather and hammer drop experiment performed during the Apollo 15 mission on the Moon.