You are directed to set up an experiment in which you drop, from shoulder height, objects with similar surface areas but different masses, timing how long it takes for each object to hit the floor. Of the following explanations, which best describes your findings?

a. the most dense object hits the ground first

b. the less dense object hits the ground first

c. they will hit the ground at the same time

Question

Chico

Physics

26 January, 17:48

You are directed to set up an experiment in which you drop, from shoulder height, objects with similar surface areas but different masses, timing how long it takes for each object to hit the floor. Of the following explanations, which best describes your findings?

a. the most dense object hits the ground first

b. the less dense object hits the ground first

c. they will hit the ground at the same time

+3

Answers (1)

Know the Answer?

Janelle French · Answer 1

Answer: c. they will hit the ground at the same time

Explanation:

The volume of both objects is almost the same, so the force of friction will be the same in each one, so we can discard it.

Now, when yo drop an object, the acceleration of the object is always g = 9.8m/s^2 downwards, independent of the mass of the object.

So if you drop two objects with the same volume but different mass, because the acceleration is the same for both of them, they will hit the ground at the same time, this means that the density of the object has no impact in how much time the object needs to reach the floor.

So the correct option is c