FREELY FALLING

OBJECTS
 FREELY FALLING OBJECTS

Google photo
Painting of Galileo demonstrating to the Grand Duke of Tuscany his
argument for the action of gravity being uniform acceleration.
• One of the most common examples of uniformly accelerated
motion is that of an object allowed to fall freely near the Earth’s
surface. That a falling object is accelerating may not be
obvious at first. And beware of thinking, as was widely believed
before the time of Galileo that heavier objects fall faster than
lighter objects and that the speed of fall is proportional to how
heavy the object is.
• The speed of a falling object is not proportional to its mass.
 Galileo Galilei

For free fall, he postulated that all objects

would fall with the same constant acceleration
in the absence of air or other resistance.

Google photo
 This is a multiflash photograph of a falling
apple, at equal time intervals.

The apple is accelerating.

𝑑 ∝ 𝑡2

Google photo
(a) A ball and a light (b) Repeated, with
piece of paper are the paper wadded
dropped at the same up.
time.

Google photo
 Galileo was sure that air acts as a
resistance to very light objects that
have a large surface area. But in
many ordinary circumstances, this air
resistance is negligible.
In a chamber from which the air has
been removed, even light objects like
a feather or a horizontally held piece
Google photo of paper will fall with the same
A rock and a feather are acceleration as any other object
dropped simultaneously
• Galileo’s specific contribution to our understanding of the
motion of falling objects can be summarized as follows:
at a given location on the Earth and in the absence of air resistance,
all objects fall with the same constant acceleration.

𝑔 = 9.8 𝑚ൗ 2
𝑠
𝑓𝑡
𝑔 = 32 ൗ 2 (𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑠
𝑠
 Example:
• How far will a ball dropped from a tower have fallen after a
1 𝑠, 2 𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 3 𝑠. Ignoring air resistance.
Let us take 𝑦 to be positive downward.
1
Given: 𝑦 = 𝑦0 + 𝑣0 𝑡 + 𝑎𝑡 2
𝑎 = 9.8 𝑚Τ𝑠2 2
1 𝑚 2
𝑣0 = 0 𝑦1 = (9.8 Τ𝑠2 )(1 𝑠) = 4.90 𝑚
2
𝑦0 = 0
1 𝑚 2
𝑦2 = (9.8 Τ𝑠2 )(2 𝑠) = 19.6 𝑚
2
1
𝑦2 = (9.8 𝑚Τ𝑠2 )(3 𝑠)2 = 44.1 𝑚
2
Google photo
• Note: The speed of an object falling in air (or other fluid)
does not increase indefinitely. If the object falls far enough, it
will reach a maximum velocity called the terminal velocity
due to air resistance.
 Example
• A stone, instead of being dropped, is downwardly thrown from
a tower with an initial velocity of 3.00 m/s.
a. What will then be the position after 1 𝑠 and 2 𝑠 ?
b. What will be its speed after 1 𝑠 and 2 𝑠 ?
1
𝑎. 𝑦 = 𝑣0 𝑡 + 2 𝑎𝑡 2 𝑏. 𝑣 = 𝑣0 + 𝑎𝑡
1 𝑣𝑎𝑡 1𝑠 = 3.00 𝑚Τ𝑠 + (9.8 𝑚ൗ 2 )(1 𝑠)
𝑦1 = 3.00 𝑚Τ𝑠 1𝑠 + 2 (9.8 𝑚Τ𝑠2 )(1 𝑠)2 𝑠
𝑦𝑎𝑡 1𝑠 = 7.90 𝑚 𝑣𝑎𝑡 1𝑠 = 12.8 𝑚Τ𝑠
1
𝑦2 = 3.00 𝑚Τ𝑠 2𝑠 + 2 (9.8 𝑚Τ𝑠2 )(2 𝑠)2 𝑣𝑎𝑡 2𝑠 = 3.00 𝑚Τ𝑠 + (9.8 𝑚ൗ 2 )(2 𝑠)
𝑠
𝑚
𝑣𝑎𝑡 2𝑠 = 22.6 Τ𝑠
𝑦𝑎𝑡 2𝑠 = 25.6 𝑚
• If the ball is dropped, the velocity at 1 s and 2 s is:
𝑣 = 𝑣0 + 𝑎𝑡
𝑣𝑎𝑡 1𝑠 = (9.8 𝑚ൗ 2 )(1 𝑠)
𝑠
𝑣𝑎𝑡 1𝑠 = 9.8 𝑚/𝑠

𝑣𝑎𝑡 2𝑠 = (9.8 𝑚ൗ 2 )(2 𝑠)

𝑠
𝑣𝑎𝑡 2𝑠 = 19.6 𝑚/𝑠
 Example:
• How high an object goes if you throw it upward into the air with
an initial velocity of 15.0 𝑚/𝑠? (Ignoring air resistance)
At point A 𝑣 2 = 𝑣02 + 2𝑎𝑦
𝑡=0 2 − 𝑣2 2
𝑦0 = 0 𝑣 0 0 − (15.0 𝑚/𝑠)
𝑚 𝑦= = 2)
𝑣0 = 15.0 2𝑎 2 (−9.8 𝑚/𝑠
𝑠
𝑎 = −9.8 𝑚Τ𝑠2 𝑦 = 11.5 𝑚
𝑦 =?
At t (maximum height)
𝑣=0
𝑎 = −9.8 𝑚Τ𝑠2
Example:
How long will the ball be in the air before it comes back to your
hand?

2
2 (11.5 𝑚) For total time:
𝑡 =
9.8 𝑚ൗ 2 𝑡𝑇 = 𝑡 ↑ + 𝑡 ↓
𝑠
2 𝑡𝑇 = 1.53 𝑠 + 1.53 𝑠
𝑡= 2.35 𝑠 2 = 2.35 𝑠
𝑡𝑇 = 3.06 𝑠
= 1.53 𝑠
Time down
Example:
Using example previously, calculate how much time it
takes for the ball to reach the maximum height

Given
𝑣 = 𝑣0 + 𝑎𝑡 15 𝑚Τ𝑠
Since 𝑣 = 0 𝑡=−
At time interval between the throw
−9.8 𝑚ൗ 2
𝑡0 = 0 𝑎𝑡 = −𝑣0 𝑠
𝑣0 = 15.0 𝑚/𝑠 𝑎 𝑎
The top of path 𝑣0 𝑡 = 1.53 𝑠
𝑡=−
𝑦𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 11.5 𝑚 𝑎
𝑣=0
𝑎 = −𝑔 = −9.8 𝑚Τ𝑠2
Example:
Using example previously, calculate the velocity of the
ball when it returns to the thrower’s hand (point C).
Given: 𝑣 = 𝑣0 + 𝑎𝑡
𝑡0 = 0 𝑚
𝑣 = 15 − (9.8 𝑚ൗ 2 )(3.06 𝑠)
𝑣0 = 15.0 𝑚/𝑠 𝑠 𝑠
𝑚
𝑡 = 3.0𝑠 𝑣 = −15
𝑠
𝑣 =?
The ball has the same speed (magnitude of velocity)
when it returns to the starting point as it did initially, but
in the opposite direction (this is the meaning of the
negative sign).
Note: The acceleration of objects such as rockets and fast
airplanes is often given as a multiple of 𝑔 = 9.8 𝑚Τ𝑠2

A plane pulling out of a dive

and undergoing 3.00 𝑔’𝑠 would
have an acceleration of
𝑚
3.00 𝑔 9.8 𝑠2 = 29.4 𝑚Τ𝑠2
Thank you! ☺
Shinzou wo sasageyo