Falling Objects

Most recent answer: 10/22/2007

Q:
If you drop a bowling ball and a golf ball from a one hundred foot building at the same time,which one will land first and why?
- Anonymous
worthington,in usa
A:
A famous scientist named Galileo did this type of experiment in the late 1500’s. This may seam amazing, but they would both hit the ground at the same time.

The reason this works is because all objects fall at the same rate. Now, I know you’re thinking, "But what about a feather? That falls slower than a ball." You’d be right about that. The reason a feather falls slowly is because the air pushes on it more than it would on a ball. But if you could remove all the air, then everything would fall at the same speed.

When the astronauts went to the moon, they actually tried this. The moon doesn’t have any air, so it worked perfectly. The different objects all fell at the same speed.

Adam

(published on 10/22/2007)