Gravity and Dropping Things from a Height

You have been measuring the weights of different things on Earth; that is the force with which Earth pulls these things down towards it.

Now you will investigate the speed with which gravity pulls different things down.

First, take two things of similar shape but different weight. This would be like having a large heavy apple in one hand and a small light apple in the other. If you dropped these two at the same time, which do you think will hit the ground first (A) or (B) or (C)?

A. the heavy apple will hit the ground first

B. both apples will land at the same time

C. the lighter apple will land first?

Check answer

Flash

Galileo Experiment

Galileo Experiment

For a long time most people thought that heavier things fell faster than light things. However, an Italian scientist called Galileo did an experiment which showed that things with different weight fall at the same speed. So the two apples would actually land at the same time.

See more about Galileo in the Famous Scientists section!


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