Freely Falling Objects

• One of the most important & common special cases of motion

with constant acceleration:

“FREE FALL”
Objects falling due to gravity near the surface
of Earth. Neglect air resistance. Near Earth’s
surface, all objects experience approximately
the same acceleration due to gravity.
Use the one-dimensional (1d) constant
acceleration equations
 • Experiment:
– Ball & light piece of paper dropped at the same
time. Repeated with wadded up paper.

In the absence of air

resistance, all objects fall
with the same acceleration,
although this may be tricky
to tell by testing in an
environment where there is
air resistance.
• Experiment:
– Rock & feather
dropped at the same
time in air. Repeated
in vacuum.

The acceleration due to gravity at the Earth’s surface is

approximately 9.80 m/s2. At a given location on the Earth and
in the absence of air resistance, all objects fall with the same
constant acceleration.
• Experiment finds that the acceleration of
falling objects (neglecting air resistance) is
always (approximately) the same, no matter
how light or heavy the object.

• Acceleration due to gravity, a  g

g = 9.8 m/s2 (approximately!)
• Acceleration of falling objects is always the
same, no matter how light or heavy.
• Acceleration due to gravity, g = 9.8 m/s2
• First proven by Galileo Galilei

Legend: Dropped
objects off of the
leaning tower of Pisa.
A COMMON MISCONCEPTION!
• Acceleration due to gravity
g = 9.8 m/s2 (approximately)
– Depends on location on Earth, latitude, & altitude:
• To treat motion of falling objects, use the same
equations we already have, but change notation
slightly:
Replace a by g = 9.8 m/s2
– But in the equations it could have a + or a - sign
in front of it!

– Usually, we consider vertical motion to be in the y

direction, so replace x by y and x0 by y0 (often y0 =
0)
 Sign of g in 1d Equations
• Magnitude (size) of g = 9.8 m/s2 (POSITIVE!)
– But, acceleration is a vector (1 dimension), with 2
possible directions.
– Call these + and -.
– However, which way is + and which way is - is
ARBITRARY & UP TO US!
– May seem “natural” for “up” to be + y and “down” to be
- y, but we could also choose (we sometimes will!)
“down” to be + y and “up” to be - y
– So, in equations g could have a + or a - sign in front of it,
depending on our choice!
 Directions of Velocity & Acceleration
• Objects in free fall ALWAYS have downward
acceleration.
• Still use the same equations for objects thrown
upward with some initial velocity v0
• An object goes up until it stops at some point & then
it falls back down. Acceleration is always g in the
downward direction. For the first half of flight, the
velocity is UPWARD.
 For the first part of the flight, velocity &
acceleration are in opposite directions!
Equations for Bodies in Free Fall
Equations for Bodies in Free Fall
 dv
 constant  a
dt
dv  adt
vf t t

 dv  v
v0
f  v0   adt a  dt a(t  0)  at
0 0

v f  v0  at
v  v0  at
 v  v0  at
More
dx …
 v0  at
dt
dx  v0 dt  atdt
x t t

 dx  v  dt  a  tdt
x0
0
0 0

1 2
x  x0  v0t  at
2
1 2
x  x0  v0t  at
2
 dv dv dx dv
a  v
dt dx dt dx
adx  vdv
x vf

a  dx   vdv
x0 v0

1 2
a ( x  x0 )  (v f  v0 )
2

2
for x 0  0
v  v  2ax
2
f
2
0
Equations for Bodies in Free Fall
• Written taking “up” as + y!
v = v0 - g t (1)
y = y0 + v0 t – (½)gt2 (2)
v2 = (v0)2 - 2g (y - y0) (3)
v = (½)(v + v0) (4)
g = 9.8 m/s2
Equations for Bodies in Free Fall
• Written taking “down” as + y!
v = v0 + g t (1)
y = y0 + v0 t + (½)gt2 (2)
v2 = (v0)2 + 2g (y - y0) (3)
v = (½)(v + v0) (4)
g = 9.8 m/s2
 Falling from a Tower
A ball is dropped (v0 = 0) from a tower 70.0 m high. How
far will it have fallen after time t1 = 1 s, t2 = 2 s, t3 = 3 s?

Note: y is positive
v1 = (9.8)(1)
= 9.8 m/s
DOWNWARD!
v = gt
v2 = (9.8)(2)
= 19.6 m/s
y = (½) gt2
a = g = 9.8 m/s2
v3 = (9.8)(3)
= 29.4 m/s
 Thrown Down From a Tower
A ball is thrown downward with an initial velocity
of v0 = 3 m/s, instead of being dropped. What are
it’s position & speed after t1 = 1 s & t2 = 2 s?
Compare with the dropped ball.

y1, v1
Note: y is positive
DOWNWARD!
y2, v2 v = v0 + gt
y = v0t + (½)gt2
y3, v3
a = g = 9.8 m/s2
 v = 0 here, but a = - g!
A person throws a ball upward into the air with
an initial velocity of v0 = 15.0 m/s. Calculate
Time to top
= ½ round
a. The time to reach the maximum height.
trip time b. The maximum height.
c. The time to come back to the hand.
d. The velocity when it returns to the hand.

Note: y is positive UPWARD!

 v C = - v0 v = v0 – gt, y = v0t - (½)gt2
= -15 m/s v2 = (v0)2 - 2g(y - y0)
v0 = 15 m/s 
Example: Not a bad throw for a rookie!
Problem: A stone is thrown at point (A) from
the top of a building with an initial velocity of v0
= 19.2 m/s straight upward. The building is H =
49.8 m high, and the stone just misses the edge
of the roof on its way down, as in the figure.
Answer these questions:

a) Calculate the time at which the stone

reaches its maximum height.
b) Calculate the maximum height of the stone
above the rooftop.
c) Calculate the time at which the stone returns to
the level of the thrower
d) Calculate the velocity of the stone at this instant.

e) Calculate the velocity & position of the stone

at time t = 5 s
Example: Ball Thrown Up at the Edge of a Cliff

A ball is thrown up at speed 15.0 m/s by a

person on the edge of a cliff. The ball can
fall to the base of the cliff 50.0 m below.
Ignore air resistance. Calculate:
a. The time it takes the ball to reach the
base of the cliff.
b. The total distance traveled by the ball.
1. A turtle has a speed of 0.50 m/s. After 6 seconds, it has a speed of 0.80 m/s. What is the turtle’s average acceleration in m/s? (0.05)
2. What is a sport’s car average acceleration if it can go from 0 m/s to 27 m/s in 6.0 sec? (4.5)
3. A school bus can accelerate from a complete stop at 1.3 m/s 2. How long will it take the bus to reach a speed of 12.1 m/s? (9.3)
4. If a bicycle has an average acceleration of 0.44 m/s 2, and its initial forward velocity is 8.2 m/s, what is its final velocity after 10
seconds? (12.6)
5. What is a car’s acceleration when there is an accident on the highway the car slows down from an initial velocity of 24.5 m/s to a final
velocity of 4.5 m/s in 3.2 seconds. Is it acceleration or deceleration? (-6.25)
6. A car travels west 50 km for 2 hours before heading south at a rate of 30 kilometers per hour for 1.5 hours. What is the car’s average
speed and average velocity?
7. A swimmer competes in the 500-meter free. Their swim time is 11 minutes and 32 seconds. What is their average speed in meters per
second? What is their average velocity in km/hr?
8. A hiker has an average velocity of 5 km/hr NE for 3 hours. The hiker traveled a distance of 10 meters east and X meters north. What
distance did the hiker travel to the north?
9. What was the hiker’s average speed in #8?
10. A cyclist travels east for 3 hours and covers 3 km before heading north for an additional 2 hours. The cyclist’s displacement is in the
direction of 30 degrees Northeast. What is the cyclist’s average speed and average velocity?
11. An airplane accelerates down a runway at 3.20 m/s 2 for 32.8 s until is finally lifts off the ground. Determine the distance traveled
before takeoff.
12. A car starts from rest and accelerates uniformly over a time of 5.21 seconds for a distance of 110 m. Determine the acceleration of the
car.
13. Upton Chuck is riding the Giant Drop at Great America. If Upton free falls for 2.6 seconds, what will be his final velocity and how far
will he fall?
14. A race car accelerates uniformly from 18.5 m/s to 46.1 m/s in 2.47 seconds. Determine the acceleration of the car and the distance
traveled.
15. A feather is dropped on the moon from a height of 1.40 meters. The acceleration of gravity on the moon is 1.67 m/s 2. Determine the
time for the feather to fall to the surface of the moon.
16. Rocket-powered sleds are used to test the human response to acceleration. If a rocket-powered sled is accelerated to a speed of 444
m/s in 1.8 seconds, then what is the acceleration and what is the distance that the sled travels?
17. A bike accelerates uniformly from rest to a speed of 7.10 m/s over a distance of 35.4 m. Determine the acceleration of the bike.
18. An engineer is designing the runway for an airport. Of the planes that will use the airport, the lowest acceleration rate is likely to be 3
m/s2. The takeoff speed for this plane will be 65 m/s. Assuming this minimum acceleration, what is the minimum allowed length for
the runway?
19. A car traveling at 22.4 m/s skids to a stop in 2.55 s. Determine the skidding distance of the car (assume uniform acceleration).
20. A kangaroo is capable of jumping to a height of 2.62 m. Determine the takeoff speed of the kangaroo.