Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- What is Free Fall?
- Newton’s Second Law
- Equations
- Summary
- What’s Next?
In the last segment, we solved a problem based on the universal law of gravitation. In this segment, we will learn detail.
What is Free Fall?
A free-falling object is an object that is falling under the sole influence of gravity. Any object being acted upon only by the force of gravity is in a state of free fall.
When you leave a stone, it will free-fall towards the ground. But if you throw it, it’s not free fall. That’s because gravity is not the only force acting on the stone, but your applied force is in play as well.
When the object is free-falling towards the earth, there is a force of gravity acting on it that accelerates its speed.
Gravitational Force of Earth
What is Newton’s Second Law of Motion?
According to Newton’s second law of motion, the force acting on an object is equal to the
product of its mass and acceleration.
Newton’s second law states that the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting on the object, and inversely proportional to its mass.
Mathematically, this can be expressed as follows:
F = ma
where F is the net force applied to the object, m is the mass of the object, and a is the acceleration of the object.
Summary
Free fall is the motion of an object in a gravitational field, with no forces acting on it other than gravity. In this motion, the only force acting on the object is gravity, which causes it to accelerate downward at a rate of 9.8 m/s2. Free fall motion can occur in a vacuum or in the atmosphere, and is used in physics to calculate the acceleration of gravity, the terminal velocity of a falling object, and the time it takes for an object to fall a certain distance.
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