Misconceptions About Falling Objects

Let's say Jack holds both balls above his head and then he drops them at exactly the same time. What do you expect to see? Well, they're going to hit the ground at the same time. I expect them to both land at the same time. The same time, same time!

This one to hit the ground first; however, they will actually both hit the ground at the same time. Why is that? Science! Yeah, science!

Now, the black one clearly feels a lot heavier, so the standard misconception is to believe that the black ball will accelerate at a greater rate and reach the ground first. This year, many people had an idea that both balls would land at the same time, but they didn't know exactly why. I found there were some different misconceptions. For example, many people seem to think that as an object falls towards the Earth, it falls with a constant speed from this height.

Yeah, pretty much just a constant speed all the way down. Speed? Yeah, I think it'll be the same constant speed. I think it's constant. I seem to remember it being constant. I did decently in physics, and I seem to remember that's the answer.

Whereas the truth is the speed of both balls is changing all the time. The balls are speeding up as they go towards the ground. That's what the force of gravity does on them; it makes them accelerate, it gets them to speed up.

Another misconception I discovered was that some people believe both balls should have the same gravitational force on them, even though the black ball is clearly much, much heavier. The reason I think they said this was because they knew both balls needed to reach the ground at the same time, so they reasoned that the force on them must be the same.

Tell me about how the gravitational force on this ball compares to the gravitational force on that ball. The force is the same. It's going to be very similar in terms of gravitational pull. They both have the same, and they'll fall at the same rate.

I'm not like Einstein, but same gravitational force around the whole world, right? 'Cause the gravitational pull on the Earth is the same on both objects. Are you saying that the force on them is the same? The pull is the same, but you felt the pull, and you've told me the pull is different.

No, I said the weight is different. I didn't say the pull is different. It is heavier and has more gravitational pull, but when I drop them, then they get equal gravitational pull.

Somehow, don’t you think it's going to be like five times as much? Yeah, you think, but it's not the way you're asking it. Yes, but scientifically speaking, no. The gravitational force on both these balls is the same.

Okay, the gravitational force on both of these balls is the same. Is that what you actually believe? No, but it is. Tell me, tell me what you believe. I believe it should be more on this simply for the fact that this is heavier, and just intuition tells me that it should be more.

But after learning physics, we learn that it is actually the same. I actually think the force on this ball is more than the force on this. I swear I'm not trying to mess with you!

So like, in real life, in real life, and in physics, I will tell you that the force on this ball is more.

All right, ready? Three, two, one. Yep! See? Same time, same time, same time!

I would say the force on the medicine ball is like a lot more because it's got a lot more weight. It's got a lot more mass, but it's got a lot more inertia.

Yeah, yeah! Oh, you guys remember that, right? It's got a lot of resistance to acceleration, so it takes more force to get it accelerating at the same rate as this ball, and that's why they accelerate at the same rate.

Thank you guys so much for playing along. I appreciate that. Sorry, it's all right.