Gravity is a force that affects everything on Earth and even beyond. Whether you’re an astronaut in space or just someone who drops things a lot, gravity is always at work. It pulls objects toward the Earth, which is why things fall. But have you ever noticed that some things fall faster than others? For example, a piece of paper takes longer to hit the ground than a book. Why does this happen?
All objects have mass, which is the amount of matter in them. When gravity pulls on an object, it gives the object weight. A long time ago, people thought that heavier things fell faster than lighter ones because that’s what it seemed like. For instance, a book appears to fall faster than a piece of paper. But is that really true?
In 1971, astronaut Dave Scott did an experiment on the Moon. He dropped a hammer and a feather from the same height, and they hit the ground at the same time. This wouldn’t happen on Earth because of something called air resistance.
Earth has an atmosphere made up of gases that push against objects as they fall. This push creates friction, known as air resistance. On Earth, a feather’s shape causes it to encounter more air resistance than a hammer, making it fall more slowly. However, the Moon has almost no atmosphere, so there’s hardly any air resistance, allowing both objects to fall at the same rate.
You can do a simple experiment to see how air resistance works. Take two pieces of paper of the same size. Crumple one into a tight ball and leave the other flat. Drop them from the same height, like a meter, and see which one hits the ground first. You’ll notice the flat paper takes longer to fall because it experiences more air resistance than the crumpled one.
From this experiment, we learn that on Earth, objects seem to fall at different speeds not because of their mass or weight, but because of air resistance. So, next time you think about how things fall, remember it’s the air pushing against them that makes the difference. And if you ever get a chance to go to the Moon, take a feather and a hammer with you to see this in action!
Balloon vs. Coin Drop: Gather a balloon and a coin. Hold them at the same height and drop them at the same time. Observe which one hits the ground first. Discuss why the balloon takes longer to fall compared to the coin. Think about how air resistance affects each object differently. Try this experiment in different places, like indoors and outdoors, and see if the results change.
Create Your Own Parachute: Use a small toy figure and create a parachute using a plastic bag and some string. Attach the parachute to the toy and drop it from a height. Observe how the parachute slows down the fall. Discuss how air resistance helps the parachute work and how this is similar to how air resistance affects falling objects on Earth.
Question Time: Imagine you are on the Moon with very little air. What do you think would happen if you dropped a feather and a rock at the same time? Why do you think this would happen? Discuss with your friends or family and see if you can come up with other examples of how air resistance affects things we see every day.
