Gravity: Galileo's Principle

Explaining to my grandson falling bodies - you can feel the heavier body is being pulled on harder by gravity but the heavier body takes more force to cause it to accelerate (fall) the 2 balance each other so they both fall at the same speed is this a correct answer to give my 9 year old grandson...
- Dennis Bonnett (age 58)
Clifton NJ. USA

Yes, that was good enough for Isaac Newton so it should be good enough for your 9-year-old grandson, at least for now.

If he's interested, you could show him how it takes more push to accelerate the bigger body. Maybe you could get a nice calibrated push using  a flexible board pushed against some body just enough to maintain a certain bend, He can then see how the bigger body accelerates less.

Mike W.

(published on 05/09/2015)