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The feather would reach the earth first dumb@$$

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Q: What would happen if you dropped a hammer and a feather here on earth?
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Why does the hammer and feather theory work on the moon and not on earth'?

In simple theory any object will accelerate downwards at the same rate after being dropped. But, if you try it, the air gets in the way and stops a feather falling as fast as a hammer. On the Moon there is no air so everything falls at the same rate (which is 1/6 as fast as on the Earth.


What will strike the surface of the moon first a hammer or a feather?

Both the hammer and the feather will hit the lunar surface simultaneously. In the absence of any atmosphere, there is no air resistance to slow down the feather. Therefore, in a vacuum, all objects fall at the same rate regardless of their mass. This was famously demonstrated during the Apollo 15 mission in 1971 by astronaut David Scott, who dropped a hammer and a feather on the moon's surface and observed them falling together.


Why does the feather and the hammer land at the same time on the moon and diffrent times on the earth?

Because the moon has essentially no atmosphere, there would be no drag on the feather when it falls. On earth, it would be quite a different matter. The significant surface area of the feather means that as it falls, the friction of the air on it provides significant opposing force to it as it falls. In the case of a falling hammer, the opposing force of air friction on the hammer is negligible compared to the force of gravity on it since the hammer is much heavier than the feather. Since there would be no drag on either item when dropped on the moon, the only force acting on either would be gravity and their acceleration would be only that of gravity with no opposing force to slow them down as they fell.


Why did the feather and the hammer land the same time on the moon and different times on the earth?

The Earth has an atmosphere and the moon doesn't, so a falling feather on Earth runs into quite a bit of air resistance which slows it down much more than a hammer. On the moon, there is no air resistance.


Which astronaut dropped a hammer and falcon feather while on the moon?

Apollo 15 astronaut Dave Scott dropped the hammer and feather to show that since there is no air friction on the moon, and the acceleration of an object by gravity does not depend on the mass of the object.The above experiment is supposed to prove the equivalence principle which states that the acceleration an object feels due to gravity does not depend on its mass, density, composition, colour or shape."Both will hit the moon at the same time?"Answer:If you drop a hammer and a feather from the same height on earth, the hammer will hit the ground first as the feather is slowed down drastically by air resistance.But on the moon, because it is a vacuum, and since the acceleration of an object is the same as the gravity i.e. a = g and the mass is not in the equation, all objects will have the same acceleration and hence the hammer should fall to the surface of moon at the same time as the feather but:"Both will hit the moon at the same time as believed by most scientists?"This may not be absolutely true since every object has its own gravity which is greater if its mass is greater. So the hammer has a gravity much greater than that of the feather. Therefore the combined gravity of the hammer and that of the moon (which pulls the hammer and moon towards each other) is greater than that of the feather and the moon.As such the hammer should collide with the moon marginally earlier than that between the feather and the moon, though this difference is so minute that we assume that the collisions occur simultaneously.However, if the hammer and feather are dropped together, then as the hammer's gravity pulls the moon towards itself, it also pull the moon towards the feather and as such the lucky feather may get a free ride and hits the moon at the same time as the hammer.To be fair, the experiment should be done dropping the objects individually e.g. feather first, then the hammer and then see whether the times taken are the same or not.All the above are valid only on the assumption that the centre of gravity is the part that hits the moon but since this is not necessarily true, we also have to take into account which part of the hammer or feather is nearest to the moon before the two objects were released (assuming that the centre of gravity of both objects are at the same level on release) !The real answer is that there is not enough data for us to know which will hit the moon first !

Related questions

Why does the hammer and feather theory work on the moon and not on earth'?

In simple theory any object will accelerate downwards at the same rate after being dropped. But, if you try it, the air gets in the way and stops a feather falling as fast as a hammer. On the Moon there is no air so everything falls at the same rate (which is 1/6 as fast as on the Earth.


What would happen if you droped a hammer and a feather on the Moon?

What would happen if you dropped a hammer and a feather on the earth and on the moon? The above experiment is supposed to prove the equivalence principle which states that the acceleration an object feels due to gravity does not depend on its mass, density, composition, colour or shape.Answer:If you drop a hammer and a feather from the same height on earth, the hammer will hit the ground first as the feather is slowed down drastically by air resistance.But on the moon, because it is a vacuum, and since the acceleration of an object is the same as the gravity i.e. a = g and the mass is not in the equation, all objects will have the same acceleration and hence the hammer should fall to the surface of moon at the same time as the feather but:"Both will hit the moon at the same time as believed by most scientists?"This may not be absolutely true since every object has its own gravity which is greater if its mass is greater. So the hammer has a gravity much greater than that of the feather. Therefore the combined gravity of the hammer and that of the moon (which pulls the hammer and moon towards each other) is greater than that of the feather and the moon.As such the hammer should collide with the moon marginally earlier than that between the feather and the moon, though this difference is so minute that we assume that the collisions occur simultaneously.However, if the hammer and feather are dropped together, then as the hammer's gravity pulls the moon towards itself, it also pull the moon towards the feather and as such the lucky feather may get a free ride and hits the moon at the same time as the hammer.To be fair, the experiment should be done dropping the objects individually e.g. feather first, then the hammer and then see whether the times taken are the same or not.All the above are valid only on the assumption that the centre of gravity is the part that hits the moon but since this is not necessarily true, we also have to take into account which part of the hammer or feather is nearest to the moon before the two objects were released (assuming that the centre of gravity of both objects are at the same level on release) !The real answer is that there is not enough data for us to know which will hit the moon first !The famous experiment by Astronaut Dave Scott on the moon is not very precise.Dr HW Looi


What force that makes a feather drop slower than a hammer on earth?

Air resistance.


Why does the feather and the hammer land at the same time on the moon and diffrent times on the earth?

Because the moon has essentially no atmosphere, there would be no drag on the feather when it falls. On earth, it would be quite a different matter. The significant surface area of the feather means that as it falls, the friction of the air on it provides significant opposing force to it as it falls. In the case of a falling hammer, the opposing force of air friction on the hammer is negligible compared to the force of gravity on it since the hammer is much heavier than the feather. Since there would be no drag on either item when dropped on the moon, the only force acting on either would be gravity and their acceleration would be only that of gravity with no opposing force to slow them down as they fell.


What will strike the surface of the moon first a hammer or a feather?

Both the hammer and the feather will hit the lunar surface simultaneously. In the absence of any atmosphere, there is no air resistance to slow down the feather. Therefore, in a vacuum, all objects fall at the same rate regardless of their mass. This was famously demonstrated during the Apollo 15 mission in 1971 by astronaut David Scott, who dropped a hammer and a feather on the moon's surface and observed them falling together.


Why did the feather and the hammer land the same time on the moon and different times on the earth?

The Earth has an atmosphere and the moon doesn't, so a falling feather on Earth runs into quite a bit of air resistance which slows it down much more than a hammer. On the moon, there is no air resistance.


Where on earth can a hammer and feather drop at the same speed?

Inside a safe dropped from a plane.If there were a very good vacuum to drop them in, it would be close. The air resistance of a feather limits its falling velocity more than the resistance on the hammer. When the drag caused by friction equals the weight of the object, it cannot continue to accelerate and falls at a speed called its terminal velocity.


Do objects fall at the same rate on a planet with no atmosphere?

No, because there is no air to slow the down. For deeper analysis, check youtube, hammer and feather experiment on the moon. They hit the ground at the same time on the moon because there is no atmosphere, but if you drop a hammer and a feather on earth the hammer, obviously, hits first.


Which astronaut dropped a hammer and falcon feather while on the moon?

Apollo 15 astronaut Dave Scott dropped the hammer and feather to show that since there is no air friction on the moon, and the acceleration of an object by gravity does not depend on the mass of the object.The above experiment is supposed to prove the equivalence principle which states that the acceleration an object feels due to gravity does not depend on its mass, density, composition, colour or shape."Both will hit the moon at the same time?"Answer:If you drop a hammer and a feather from the same height on earth, the hammer will hit the ground first as the feather is slowed down drastically by air resistance.But on the moon, because it is a vacuum, and since the acceleration of an object is the same as the gravity i.e. a = g and the mass is not in the equation, all objects will have the same acceleration and hence the hammer should fall to the surface of moon at the same time as the feather but:"Both will hit the moon at the same time as believed by most scientists?"This may not be absolutely true since every object has its own gravity which is greater if its mass is greater. So the hammer has a gravity much greater than that of the feather. Therefore the combined gravity of the hammer and that of the moon (which pulls the hammer and moon towards each other) is greater than that of the feather and the moon.As such the hammer should collide with the moon marginally earlier than that between the feather and the moon, though this difference is so minute that we assume that the collisions occur simultaneously.However, if the hammer and feather are dropped together, then as the hammer's gravity pulls the moon towards itself, it also pull the moon towards the feather and as such the lucky feather may get a free ride and hits the moon at the same time as the hammer.To be fair, the experiment should be done dropping the objects individually e.g. feather first, then the hammer and then see whether the times taken are the same or not.All the above are valid only on the assumption that the centre of gravity is the part that hits the moon but since this is not necessarily true, we also have to take into account which part of the hammer or feather is nearest to the moon before the two objects were released (assuming that the centre of gravity of both objects are at the same level on release) !The real answer is that there is not enough data for us to know which will hit the moon first !


Drop feather and steel hammer at same time they hit ground at same time. why doesnt it work with earth?

It works in a vacuum. It won't work on Earth due to air pressure slowing the dropping feather due to friction.


Why does the feather fall more slowly than a hammer do?

On Earth, a feather falls more slowly than a hammer due to air resistance. The feather is impeded more by the air than the bowling ball is. In a vacuum, such as outer space, there is no air and thus no air resistance. In this environment, all objects fall at the same rate, regardless of their shape or mass.


Can a quarter and a feather fall at the same speed?

theoritically yes. if they are placed in a vacuum packed room with no air, just empty space, they can fall at the same rate. if they fell in air, the aerodynamics wouldn't equal out, so the quarter would fall faster.