Give Reasons for the Following:
If the force of gravity acts on all bodies proportional to their masses, why does a heavy body not faster than a light body?
Force on an object of mass m falling freely under gravitation by the earth is given by Universal Law of Gravitation:
F = or, F
m
Now, clearly from above we can see that F depends on mass of the object.
Since, M = Mass of earth
r = Radius of earth
G = Nm2kg-2 are constants
If g is the acceleration due to gravity on an object of mass m then,
F = m × g
Or, g =
Or, g =
Thus, g is independent of mass of the object.
Now, let two objects A of mass and B of mass
fall from height h such that
Now, using the following equation of motion,
Here, u = 0, s = h and a = g
So,
Or,
Now, from above, since time depends on both h and g, which are both independent of masses, so both A and B come down at same time.