36.4k views
3 votes
Freely falling objects (w/o friction) of different masses...

a) Experience the same acceleration
b) Experience different accelerations
c) Do not experience any acceleration
d) Change their mass during free fall

User Datwelk
by
8.8k points

1 Answer

4 votes

Final answer:

a) Experience the same acceleration. When objects are freely falling without air resistance, they all experience the same acceleration due to gravity.

Step-by-step explanation:

Falling Objects and Acceleration

When objects are freely falling in the absence of air resistance, they all experience the same acceleration due to gravity. This means that the answer to the question is a) Experience the same acceleration. Regardless of their mass, all objects on Earth accelerate at an average rate of 9.80 m/s².

In the 17th century, Galileo conducted experiments that showed that objects of different masses still fell to the ground at the same rate when factors such as air resistance were negligible. For example, he dropped two balls of different masses off the leaning tower of Pisa, and they accelerated at the same rate. This led to the understanding that all objects, regardless of their mass, experience the same acceleration due to gravity.

User Nijo
by
8.5k points