• In the absence of air resistance, all objects fall with the same acceleration regardless of their mass

  • This is called the acceleration of freefall

    • This is also sometimes called acceleration due to gravity

• This means that for every second an object falls, its velocity will increase by 9.8 m/s

  • The symbol  also stands for the gravitational field strength, and can be used to calculate the force of weight acting an object using its mass

Where:

• = the force of weight acting on an object, measured in newtons (N)

• = mass of object, measured in kilograms (kg)

• = gravitational field strength, measured in newtons per kilogram (N/kg)

Falling objects without air resistance

• A vacuum is a space that contains no matter, so there are no particles to exert frictional forces on a falling object

• When objects fall in a vacuum, there is no air resistance or liquid resistance so the only force acting on them is the force of weigh

Acceleration, Force And Mass

• acceleration, measured in metres per second squared (m/s2)

  • force exerted on object, measured in newtons (N)

  • mass of object, measured in kilograms (kg)