What is Free Fall?
Free Fall is defined as the movement of an object under only the influence of Gravity (Gravitational force offered by the planet Earth). Imagine an object being dropped to the ground (Earth’s surface), and no other factor, but the acceleration provided by gravity is acting upon the object, such a case is known as free-falling.
Characteristics of the object under Free Fall
- When the object is under Free Fall, The Initial velocity (u) is always zero, since there is no force acting on the object just when it is dropped. Therefore, u = 0.
- Under Free Fall, No other force than the acceleration due to gravity acts upon the object, which means, even air friction or air resistance is also assumed to be zero.
- The objects start to experience a constant acceleration which is equal to the acceleration due to gravity (g= 9.8 m/sec2).
Acceleration due to gravity
It is the acceleration offered by the centre of the Earth. The value of acceleration due to gravity is a Universal constant and the value is equal to 9.8 m/sec2. When a body only experiences acceleration due to gravity, that means, it is constantly increasing its velocity with 9.8 m/sec every second starting with a zero velocity.
Free Fall
There are always two cases of things falling to the ground. One is when something is thrown to the ground, for example, throwing a ball. While the other case is when something is dropped to the ground, For example, dropping the ball or accidentally dropping the phone from hands (It will break for sure). These two cases are evidence of the effect of gravity discovered by Sir Isaac Newton.
Table of Content
- What is Free Fall?
- Force during Free Fall
- Gravitational Representation of Free Fall