Free Fall

Key Stage 4

Meaning

Free fall is when an object accelerates due to only its weight due to gravity.

About Free Fall

During free fall the only force acting on an object is its weight due to gravity.

Objects in a gravitational field accelerate at a rate which is the same as the gravitational field strength.

All objects in free fall will accelerate at the same rate, regardless of their mass or weight. However, objects do not always free fall due to air resistance. For example a feather and a hammer have the same rate of free fall in a vacuum but in an atmosphere air resistance has a greater effect on the feather so they appear to accelerate at different rates.

Objects on Earth accelerate during free fall at a rate of 9.8m/s/s.