Free Fall!!!!!

Free fall is defined as any motion where gravity is the only force acting upon on object (if air resistance was negligible) when it falls towards the Earth.

       

Calculation: d=1/2at^2

Tennis Ball                                                              Wiffle Ball

Avg. Time=1.56s                                                      Avg. Time: 1.51s

d=1/2 (9.8m/s^2)(1.56s)^2                                       d=1/2 (9.8m/s^2)(1.51s)^2

d=11.92m                                                                   d=11.17m

Small, Light Balls                                                        Foam Balls    

Avg. Time: 1.76s                                                          Avg.Time: 1.20s

d=1/2 (9.8m/s^2) (1.76s)                                                 d=1/2 (9.8m/s^2) (1.20s)

d= 15.18m                                                                   d=7.056m

Error Calculation:|known-measured| \ known

Tennis                                                  Wiffle Ball

|10.7m-11.92m| \ 10.7m                               |10.7m-11.17m| \ 10.7m

.114= 11.4%                                         .045= 4.5%

Small/Light Balls                                        Foam Balls

|10.7m-15.18m| \ 10.7m                           |10.7m-7.056m| \ 10.7m 

.42= 42%                                                   .341= 34.1%

Our Videos!

VIDEOS FOUND ON THE INTERNET MACHINE!!!!

Objects of different masses free falling!!! Enough said!

Super cool song about science.

A video describing the phenomenon of free fall and how air resistance is a factor in every day life but can be eliminated in a controlled setting. It also talks about the reason we fall... the Earth's gravitational pull on us!!!!

Conclusion:

We discovered that in a world without air resistance there would be no difference in acceleration between dropping a bowling ball and a feather, but we know this is not true. Our videos show that human error and air resistance  make it nearly impossible to show the validity if the statement: No matter the mass of an object the acceleration due to gravity will remain constant. Maybe next time we can try it in a controlled setting without air resistance. Oh, the possibilities!

Our fantastical group is: Meredithe Dosch, Manuel Carranza, and Lauren Ingham. Thank you and signing off!