Question

Does a free falling object fall 2 meters in twice the time as it falls 1 meter?

a. Yes, it takes twice as long to fall twice as far. b. Yes, it takes longer to fall farther.
c. No, since it is speeding up as it falls it will cover the same distance in a shorter time.
d. No, it takes the same time since it does not accelerate.

Answer 1

A free-falling object has a consrant force acting on it . . . the force of gravity, or what technical experts refer to as its "weight".

Since the object has a constant force acting on it, it must constantly accelerate according to Newton's 2nd law of motion. The way this acceleration reveals itself, the object's speed is constantly increasing.

Since the object is speeding up as it falls, there are a few weird things that happen:

-- It will fall 2 meters in less than double the time for 1 meter.

-- It will fall 3 meters in less than triple the time for 1 meter.

-- It will fall 4 meters in less than quadruple the time for 1 meter, and less than double the time for 2 meters.

-- It will fall 1 meter near the bottom in less time than 1 meter near the top.

None of the choices exactly answers the question.

Choices ' a ' and ' d ' are false statements.

Choice-b is a true statement, but it isn't a "Yes".

Choice-c is kind of confused, but is probably the one you should select.