Galileo Experiment: How a bowling ball and feather can fall at the same rate

hdaackda

Councller (250+ posts)

If you drop a heavy bowling ball and a feather at the same time, which will hit the ground first?

As part of BBC Two's Human Universe, Brian Cox and a team demonstrated how, with the absence of air, a feather will hit the ground at the same time as a bowling ball.

Ever inventive, Cox decided to use Nasas Space Simulation Chamber at the Space Power Facility in Ohio, home to the biggest vacuum in the world.

The Simulation Chamber replicates the same conditions experienced in outer space. Nasa uses the cylinder to test out its spacecrafts.

Without air and other interfering factors, gravity affects objects in the same way, meaning both objects will fall towards the Earth at the same rate.

Cox also carried out the experiment without the vacuum turned on to demonstrate how feathers will fall at a much slower rate because of air resistance.

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xshadow

Minister (2k+ posts)
Nice explanation.
Every object accelerates towards earth with the same value as g=9.8m/s^2. Because of this gravitational constant g, objects tend to fall on the ground with same velocity.
 

dilavar

Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
Nice explanation.
Every object accelerates towards earth with the same value as g=9.8m/s^2. Because of this gravitational constant g, objects tend to fall on the ground with same velocity.

You are right - Their rate of change of velocity (acceleration) is the same.
 
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