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"Both will hit the moon at the same time?" Not Absolutely True.

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.

But even with this help, the feather will still take a slightly longer time to collide with the moon as the gravity from the hammer will cause the flight path of the feather to curve towards the hammer and as such takes a longer path and hence a longer time to hit the moon.

To be fair, the experiment should be done dropping the feather first, then the hammer and then see the different times taken.

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 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 !

So, the real answer is that there is not enough data for us to know which will hit the moon first !

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What would happen if your in space with no atmosphere and you dropped a feather and a hammer?

They would both float if you had no gravity.


Who dropped the feather and hammer in Apollo 11?

Astronaut David Scott dropped a feather and a hammer on the moon during the Apollo 15 mission. This was done to demonstrate Galileo's theory that objects of different masses fall at the same rate in a vacuum.


What would happen if you dropped a hammer and a feather here on earth?

The hammer would fall faster than the feather due to gravity, regardless of air resistance. In the absence of air resistance, both would hit the ground at the same time in a vacuum, as demonstrated in a vacuum chamber experiment on the Moon by astronaut David Scott in 1971.


If a hammer and feather were dropped simultaneously from the same height on the asteroid Ceres which would hit the ground first?

On the asteroid Ceres, both the hammer and feather would hit the ground at the same time due to the very low gravitational pull compared to Earth. This phenomenon is in line with Galileo's principle that objects of different mass will fall at the same rate in a vacuum.


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.

Related Questions

In 1971 who dropped the hammer and feather on the moon to seen which would land first?

In 1971, astronaut David Scott dropped a hammer and a feather on the moon during the Apollo 15 mission to demonstrate Galileo's theory that objects of different mass would fall at the same rate in a vacuum. This experiment showed that in the absence of air resistance, the hammer and feather landed at the same time, supporting Galileo's prediction.


What hits the floor first when dropped at the same time hammer or feather and why?

The hammer would hit the floor first because it is more dense than the feather. When objects are dropped in a vacuum where air resistance is eliminated, gravity pulls them down with the same acceleration regardless of their mass or density.


What would happen if your in space with no atmosphere and you dropped a feather and a hammer?

They would both float if you had no gravity.


Who dropped the feather and hammer in Apollo 11?

Astronaut David Scott dropped a feather and a hammer on the moon during the Apollo 15 mission. This was done to demonstrate Galileo's theory that objects of different masses fall at the same rate in a vacuum.


What would happen if you dropped a hammer and a feather here on earth?

The hammer would fall faster than the feather due to gravity, regardless of air resistance. In the absence of air resistance, both would hit the ground at the same time in a vacuum, as demonstrated in a vacuum chamber experiment on the Moon by astronaut David Scott in 1971.


If a hammer and feather were dropped simultaneously from the same height on the asteroid Ceres which would hit the ground first?

On the asteroid Ceres, both the hammer and feather would hit the ground at the same time due to the very low gravitational pull compared to Earth. This phenomenon is in line with Galileo's principle that objects of different mass will fall at the same rate in a vacuum.


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?

Answer 1:Both will strike at the same time. Gravity affects the descent of all things equally.On Earth, it would be the hammer. But that's because the feather has properties that will make it waft up due to air currents.There is no air on the moon.Answer 2:If a hammer and a feather are dropped simultaneously from a height on the moon they will hit the ground at the same instant.Leonardo DaVinci did this experiment with different weight iron balls on Earth to prove that objects fall at the same rate. He dropped them of the leaning Tower of Pisa.The reason a feather takes longer on Earth is because of the resistance of the air. In a vacuum everything falls at the same rate.Answer 3:"Both will hit the moon at the same time"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.But even with this help, the feather will still take a slightly longer time to collide with the moon as the gravity from the hammer will cause the flight path of the feather to curve towards the hammer and as such takes a longer path and hence a longer time to hit the moon.To be fair, the experiment should be done dropping the feather first, then the hammer and then see the different times taken.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 true, we have to take into account the part of the hammer or feather which is nearest to the moon before the two objects were released !So, the real answer is that there is not enough data for us to know which will hit the moon first !


Which has more inertia hammer or feather?

A hammer would hit the ground first because a hammer is heavier


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.


What falls faster when dropped on the moon a hammer or a feather?

On the moon, both a hammer and a feather would fall at the same rate because there is no atmosphere to create air resistance. In a vacuum, all objects fall at the same rate regardless of their mass. This was famously demonstrated by astronaut David Scott during the Apollo 15 mission.


If you dropped a hammer and a feather on the moon at the same time which would hit the ground first?

Both the hammer and the feather would hit the ground at the same time on the moon because there is no atmosphere to create air resistance, allowing objects to fall at the same rate regardless of their mass.