Objects fall with constant acceleration regardless of mass
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64804/hsepny74Keywords:
free fall, kinematics, gravity, acceleration, Galileo, Aristotle, tennis ball, ping pong ball, redball, bowling ball, shotput, Python, scipy, numpy, matplotlib, R, ggplot2, dplyrAbstract
This study replicated Galileo Galilei's experiment to test his hypothesis that objects fall with constant acceleration independent of mass, neglecting air resistance. We dropped five objects of varying masses (0.002-5.21 kg) from a 5 m height and measured descent times using video digitization. We compared experimental fall times to the theoretical prediction using the kinematic equation y=-0.5 g t2. Objects were found to fall with the same acceleration (ANOVA, p=0.34). Linear regression analysis of distance versus t2 yielded R2 values between 0.92 and 0.999 across all objects, confirming that objects undergo constant acceleration. External factors such as air resistance caused minor deviations from theory, but the data strongly support Galileo's hypothesis.
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Data are available at https://github.com/devangel77b/427mreznik-lab1
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