Marking Progress…

This post represents where we were a week ago. The quotes below show where we are today.

“In the case of the dropping textbook and the ball of paper, the textbook has more weight, but it is more resistant to moving, so it will take the same to hit the ground as the paper (which is less resistant to the downward motion).”

“The gravational pull on the heavier object (the medicine ball) is more than it is one the lighter object (the basketball). The reason why they both hit the ground at the same time is because the inertia on the medicine ball causes it to resist acceleration so it needs more force to come down.”

“The gravitational pull on different objects is not the same. Weight tells us this because the heavier object has the tendency to pull harder towards to earth. Also, the more inertia a certain item has, the harder it is to get it to accelerate and the opposite with lighter objects.”

“Objects that are different weights hit the ground at the same time when dropped from the same height. The heavier object has a lot more inertia (resistance to change in motion), so it takes and effort to get the heavier object to move as fast as the lighter object.”

“Even thought objects accelerate downwards at the same rate, the heavier object takes more force so that both will accelerate at the same constant.”

“I didn’t realize that the bigger ball had more force than the other because it is heavier it apparently has more inertia so it takes more force to pull the ball to the ground.  I thought since they both hit the ball at the same rate that they would both have the same forces acting on them the same.”

“So I already knew that both balls were going to hit at the same time, but I didn’t know why.  I previously thought that they would fall at the same rate due to same force of gravity. Prior to this class I thought that the heavier ball would fall faster due to the mass. But, heavier ball has a larger force. Although the ball is heavier and has a higher force, inertia slows it down making it land at the same time as the smaller ball.”

“I thought that the two balls had the same force since they hit the ground at the same time. I thought the same force would have to be pulling on them for them to hit the ground at the same time. But I’ve learned that since the ball has a greater mass, then it also has greater resistance to the forces pushing on the ball.”

“It takes more force to get the heavier fall to fall at the same rate”
“Both of the balls have a speed that is constantly changing. Most people think that their speeds were constant but they arent. I also learned that a heavier ball has more of a force than a lighter ball. ”

” I would think that the mass would increase the force, lessening the time it takes to hit the ground, but I am still confused.”

“objects change in speed during free fall, but the acceleration for both of the objects is the same. Also, I learned that if a heavier ball and a lighter ball are dropped at the same time, they will hit the ground together due to the fact that the heavier ball resists acceleration.”

“I thought about the force being greater on the heavier medicine ball, and can see how such a simple question can cause confusion on many levels – because one would think – “Yes, gravity is the same throughout the Earth so obviously they have the same force” type deal ;-)”

“It takes more force to get the heavier ball to accelerate at the same rate.”

“I felt like I knew that they would both hit at the same time however now I do not know exactly why this happens.”

“Even though the medicine ball is heavier than the basketball they still hit the ground at the same time but the medicine ball has more force on it. Even though it has more force it still hits the ground at the same time”