As i understand forces gives bodys acceleration. And mass resist this acceleration. So why does every body, regardless of their mass, gains the same acceleration when they are in earths gravitational field? Shouldnt then more massive objects resist that acceleration and fall slower to earth than a lighter object?
Asked
Active
Viewed 76 times
0
-
1"Shouldnt then more massive objects resist that acceleration?" They do, but more mass = more force so it cancels out. – DKNguyen Aug 18 '22 at 14:52
-
Possible duplicates: https://physics.stackexchange.com/q/11321/2451 and links therein. – Qmechanic Aug 18 '22 at 16:37
-
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E%C3%B6tv%C3%B6s_experiment – JAlex Aug 18 '22 at 17:26
1 Answers
5
The gravitational force is proportional to the objects mass, the acceleration is indirect proportional to the objects mass, so they cancel each other out. As an equation:
$$F_\mathrm{grav} = G\frac{mM}{r^2} = ma \rightarrow a = GM/r^2 $$
Samuel
- 976