Newton's Laws - Mission NL10 Detailed Help


A massive and a less massive object free-fall at the same rate because ...



 
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The acceleration of any object is the ratio of the net force that acts upon it to the mass of the object. That is, a = Fnet/ m. If in free fall, the only force is gravity. The value of the force of gravity can be calculated as the product of m•g. As such, the acceleration is the ratio of m•g (net force) to m (mass). That is, a = m•g / m. Since the mass will cancel from the numerator and the denominator of this equation, it is clear that a = g for a free-falling object. Since g is the same value for all objects, it is true that all objects will free fall with the same rate of acceleration. The reason? The ratio of net force (m•g for free fall) to mass is the same for all objects.