We experience gravity everyday. It's the force that keeps our feet on the ground, makes apples fall from trees, and is occasionally cursed when you drop and break something. Newton may have "discovered" the theory of gravity, but it was Galileo (back in the 16th century) who claimed that all objects, regardless of their weight, shape, and size, fall at the same rate. In other words, the acceleration due to gravity is the same for all objects! Gravitational acceleration is governed by the size of the object causing the gravity. So here on Earth, gravitational acceleration (g) is 9.8m/s. So if I drop a hammer and a feather from the same height, they should reach the ground at the same time… right? Well scientifically, yes, but that often doesn't happen on Earth. Why? Well that's because we have a thick atmosphere and wind which causes air resistance. Lighter objects are more easily affected by wind, where as heavy objects are much less affected. So If do the hammer-feather experiment on Earth, the feather gets caught up in the wind and falls much slower that the hammer. But what happens in a place like the moon where there is less gravity (1.8m/s) but no atmosphere and thus no air resistance. Do the hammer and the feather fall at the same rate? Let's find out…..
Video Credit:Apollo 15 Crew, NASA
