Kenny Wong said:Homework Statement
Alice and Bill are at the top of a building. Alice throws her ball downward. Bill simply drops his ball. Which ball has the greater acceleration just after release?
Homework Equations
force, F=ma and F=mg
The Attempt at a Solution
Alice: F=ma+mg=m(a+g)
Bill: F=mg
Alice's ball has a greater acceleration.
I AM WRONG. WHY?
Bill drops, Alice throws. But both release, otherwise they'd still be holding onto their balls. You're meant to consider the portion of the trajectories when they are no longer in contact with their ball.Kenny Wong said:Because Alice throws instead of releases, an extra force is exerted downwards?
Gravitational acceleration is the acceleration experienced by an object due to the force of gravity. It is a measure of how quickly an object falls towards the Earth's surface.
Gravitational acceleration can be calculated using the formula a = GM/r^2, where G is the gravitational constant, M is the mass of the larger object, and r is the distance between the two objects.
The average gravitational acceleration on Earth is 9.8 meters per second squared (m/s^2). However, this value can vary slightly depending on the location and altitude on Earth.
Gravitational acceleration causes objects to accelerate towards the Earth's surface. The greater the mass of the object, the greater the gravitational force and acceleration. Objects with less mass will experience less gravitational acceleration.
Gravitational acceleration varies on other planets depending on their mass and radius. For example, on Mars, the gravitational acceleration is about 3.7 m/s^2, while on Jupiter it is about 24.8 m/s^2. This means that objects will fall faster on Jupiter than on Mars due to the difference in gravitational acceleration.