Do heavier objects fall faster?

Blinkz said:
Like I said guys this is all a theoretical situation, so no air resistance or anything. The acceleration between the objects is relative to each other, not from another observation, if that makes sense.

Any actual proof to the answer would be great!
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OT, how much did your PPL cost you?
 
MasterMike said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C5_dOEyAfk - admittedly not off a tower, but in a vacuum environment.
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there's not a huge distance though, and they're not much different in size, I'm not claiming to know the answer - I'd like to see proof one way or another.

a feather and a hammer are both so small compared to the moon or the earth that their gravitational pull is negligible.
 
Rebelius said:
there's not a huge distance though, and they're not much different in size, I'm not claiming to know the answer - I'd like to see proof one way or another.
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Well, we can "prove" as best we can by observationally-supported evidence backing up the maths. I believe that's what those in the know call "the scientific process".
 
the problem is: that gravitation isn't actually caused by a force like electromagnetism or anything like that, it's caused by a curvature of space that is caused by the two masses - it's pretty tough stuff to get your head around and I haven't done enough physics to be any sort of authority on the subject.


also, don't get me started on the "scientific process"
 
Rebelius said:
the problem is: that gravitation isn't actually caused by a force like electromagnetism or anything like that, it's caused by a curvature of space that is caused by the two masses - it's pretty tough stuff to get your head around and I haven't done enough physics to be any sort of authority on the subject.


also, don't get me started on the "scientific process"
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Consider yourself not started on the scientific "process".

I understand that as Einstein described it, mavity is a distortion of space and mavity is an effect of objects "falling" down these distortions. When I did a-level physics I didn't find it that difficult to get my head around this concept. Now, I suppose it might be silly of someone like me with so little actual knowledge of cutting-edge stuff, but couldn't mavity be thought of as a form of radiation since as far as we can tell it permeates at the speed of light, theoretically can intefere to cause waves? Is there such a thing as the "graviton"?

We need someone with more knowledge of quantum physics here :p
 
i remeber watching on TV about this, "will heavier objects fall faster"

answer is, not neccesarily! depends on the overal dimentions, cubic meters and weight
 
Abyss said:
Terminal velocity doesn't exist when there is no air resistance. It is caused by the upwards force of air resistance equalling the the downwards force of the object, therefore giving a maximum speed.
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cats have a non fatal terminal velocity on earth
 
Psyk said:
Explain that to my cat :p
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throw it from a higher hight, then it will slow down to its terminal velocity before it hits the ground

anyway,
if its dead, I've no-one to explain to, if its not then I win!
 
MasterMike said:
Consider yourself not started on the scientific "process".

I understand that as Einstein described it, mavity is a distortion of space and mavity is an effect of objects "falling" down these distortions. When I did a-level physics I didn't find it that difficult to get my head around this concept. Now, I suppose it might be silly of someone like me with so little actual knowledge of cutting-edge stuff, but couldn't mavity be thought of as a form of radiation since as far as we can tell it permeates at the speed of light, theoretically can intefere to cause waves? Is there such a thing as the "graviton"?

We need someone with more knowledge of quantum physics here :p
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curvature of space-time not just space. It seems easy to get your head round because of the analogy of a heavy ball on a piece of cloth. now imagine a 3D cloth ie all around the ball. How does it curve ;)
 
Don't know about the cat thing though. Its all about its surface area-mass ratio i guess.

As to the op's question, they would hit the earths surface at the same time.

Although theoretically, if you timed them independently and dropped a 10kg ball then a 100kg ball, the larger ball would hit the earth a fraction quicker as the total force of attraction is greater.

P.S. you would need a pretty pretty accurate stopwatch and metre rule :D
 
In one hand you have a gun pointed horizontally.

In the other you have a marble.

If you shot the gun and dropped the marble...they would both hit the ground at the same time.

rly.
 
Vanilla said:
In one hand you have a gun pointed horizontally.

In the other you have a marble.

If you shot the gun and dropped the marble...they would both hit the ground at the same time.

rly.
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yep. vertical motion is completely independent of the horizontal motion.

think of it this way...if you resolve a vector through 90degrees you get nough
 
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VeNT said:
throw it from a higher hight, then it will slow down to its terminal velocity before it hits the ground
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Huh? if i drop a cat from my window it will "slow down"? Surely the moment i release it, it's velocity is zero... does that mean cats can hover? I always knew they were strange creatures :p
 
oddjob62 said:
Huh? if i drop a cat from my window it will "slow down"? Surely the moment i release it, it's velocity is zero... does that mean cats can hover? I always knew they were strange creatures :p
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What if you put butter on it's back?
 
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