4 ms·
what no they do fall at the same rate. acceleration is F/m so the mass of the object cancels out
by hllooo 3y ago
what no they do fall at the same rate. acceleration is F/m so the mass of the object cancels out
- stbede 3y agoThe mass of the earth dictates the acceleration of the individual masses towards the earth. However the acceleration of the earth itself towards the masses are dependent on how much mass is falling towards the earth. When more mass is falling to the earth, the earth accelerates towards the masses faster. So the thought experiment is flawed because with only one 1 kg weight falling towards earth, the gap between the weight closes slower than when there are three 1 kg weights spaced 1 m apart and dropped simultaneously.
- balfebs 3y agoIf you define fall as the size of the gap. You could also take it as acceleration towards the barycenter, which would be the same. These are indistinguishable for everyday objects so could argue that the word “fall” could be interpreted either way.