Heavy Ball and Light Ball

Let's take a look!

Watch the video on YouTube.

What kind of experiment is this?

Experimental procedure and explanation:

• You simultaneously drop a heavy ball and a light ball of the same size. The heavier ball falls faster.
• In physics class, you learned that if we disregard air resistance, two objects fall at the same speed, regardless of their weights. However, in real life, you probably have experienced that heavier objects fall faster than lighter ones. This is because air resistance acts as a brake.
• Air resistance depends on things like the shape and size of the object, and the speed at which it falls. Since the two balls have the same size and shape, the same magnitude of air resistance acts on both, if they fall at the same speed. However, the heavier ball receives a larger gravitational force and thus accelerates quicker. Therefore, the heavier ball falls faster.
• When you take air resistance into account, the sense that “Heavier objects fall faster” is accurate.

[Keywords]	Drag, Air resistance
[Related items]	Large Ball and Small Ball
[Reference]	“Illustrated Fluid Dynamics Trivia,” by Ryozo Ishiwata, Natsume Publishing, pp. 72–75.