Question

Imagine that two objects are falling in the sky, and there is no air resistance. A block of metal has a mass of 70kg, and a piece of styrofoam has a mass of 5kg. Which of the following is true?

a. The block of metal will fall faster than the piece of styrofoam.
b. The piece of styrofoam will fall faster than the block of metal.
c. Both the block of metal and the piece of styrofoam will fall at the same rate.
d. The rate of fall cannot be determined without additional information.

Answer 1

The block of metal and the piece of styrofoam will fall at the same rate in free fall, despite their different masses, because gravity accelerates all objects equally in the absence of air resistance.

Step-by-step explanation:

According to the principles of physics, specifically those related to gravity and motion in free-fall, the correct answer is c. Both the block of metal and the piece of styrofoam will fall at the same rate. This conclusion is drawn from the fact that all objects in free fall near the Earth's surface accelerate at the same rate, which is approximately 9.80 m/s², regardless of their mass. This is an experimentally verified phenomenon that counters our typical experiences with air resistance and friction in the real world, where we observe lighter objects to fall slower than heavier ones. Galileo Galilei's work helped us understand that in the absence of air resistance, objects of different masses dropped simultaneously from the same height will reach the ground at the same time.