Name: ______________________________________ Date: ________________________

Student Exploration: Free-Fall Laboratory

Vocabulary: acceleration, air resistance, free fall, instantaneous velocity, terminal velocity,
velocity, vacuum

Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)

1. Suppose you dropped a feather and a hammer at the same time. Which object would hit the

ground first? On Earth where there is air and thus, air resistance, the hammer would hit the

ground first.

2. Imagine repeating the experiment in an airless tube, or vacuum. Would this change the

result? If so, how? Yes, in a vacuum, the hammer and feather would hit the ground at the

same time.

Gizmo Warm-up
The Free-Fall Laboratory Gizmo allows you to measure the motion of an
object in free fall. On the DESCRIPTION tab, check that the Shuttlecock
is selected, the Initial height is 3 meters, and the Atmosphere is Air.

1. Click Play ( ) to release the shuttlecock. How long does it take

to fall to the bottom? 0.90s

2. Select the GRAPH tab. The box labeled h (m) should be checked,
displaying a graph of height vs. time. What does this graph show?
This graph shows how the shuttlecock accelerates to near terminal
velocity and then continues falling at that near terminal velocity before
hitting the ground.

3. Turn on the v (m/s) box to see a graph of velocity vs. time. Velocity is
the speed and direction of the object. Velocity is also referred to as
instantaneous velocity. Because the shuttlecock is falling
downward, its velocity is negative.

Does the velocity stay constant as the object drops? No

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4. Turn on the a (m/s/s) box to see a graph of acceleration vs. time. Acceleration is the rate at
which the velocity changes over time. What does this graph show?

At the start of the graph, the acceleration is due to gravity. However, as the object’s velocity
increases, the air resistance also increases and so with less net force, acceleration
decreases as the velocity increases.

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 Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity A:
 Click Reset ( ).
Falling objects
 Select the DESCRIPTION tab.

Question: What factors affect how quickly an object falls?

1. Observe: Drop each item through Air from a height of 3 meters. Record how long it takes to
fall below. For the tennis ball, try to click Pause ( ) when it hits the ground.

Shuttlecock Cotton ball Tennis ball Rock Pebble

0.90s 1.36s 0.80s 0.79s 0.80s

2. Form a hypothesis: Why do some objects fall faster than others? If smaller objects with less
surface area is dropped in a vacuum, then they will tend to fall faster because they
experience less air resistance.

3. Predict: A vacuum has no air. How do you think the results will change if the objects fall
through a vacuum?

In a vacuum, the absence of air means that there is no air resistance so all objects
regardless of size and mass will fall at the same rate and hit the ground at the same time.

4. Experiment: On the Atmosphere menu, select None. Drop each item again, and record the
results below.

Shuttlecock Cotton ball Tennis ball Rock Pebble

0.78s 0.78s 0.78s 0.78s 0.78s

5. Analyze: What happened when objects fell through a vacuum? All objects hit the ground at
the exact same time.

6. Draw conclusions: Objects falling through air are slowed by the force of air resistance.
Which objects were slowed the most by air resistance? Why do you think this is so?

The cotton ball and shuttlecock were slowed the most by air resistance. I believe this
because they have a larger surface area and thus more space for air to press up against it
and create air resistance, slowing its fall.

(Activity A continued on next page)

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Activity A (continued from previous page)

7. Calculate: Select the Shuttlecock. Check that the Initial height is 3 meters and the
Atmosphere is None. Click Play and wait for the Shuttlecock to fall. Select the BAR
CHART tab and turn on Show numerical values.

A. How long did it take the shuttlecock to fall to the bottom? 0.78s

B. What was the acceleration of the shuttlecock during its fall? -9.81 m/s^2

C. What was the velocity of the shuttlecock when it hit the bottom? -7.68 m/s

(Note: This is an example of instantaneous velocity.)

D. What is the mathematical relationship between these three values?

Average acceleration = (Vf – Vi) / t
We know that initial velocity, Vi, equals zero. This means we can simplify the
equation to: Average acceleration = Vf / t

8. Make a rule: If the acceleration is constant and the starting velocity is zero, what is the
relationship between the acceleration of a falling body (a), the time it takes to fall (t), and its
instantaneous velocity when it hits the ground (v)?
Acceleration is equal to final instantaneous velocity when it hits the ground multiplied by the
time it takes to fall.

Express your answer as an equation relating v, a, and t: v = at

9. Test: Click Reset. On the DESCRIPTION tab, set the Initial height to 12 meters. Click
Play.

A. How long did it take for the shuttlecock to fall 12 meters? 1.56s

B. Assuming the acceleration is still -9.81 m/s2, what is the instantaneous velocity of the
shuttlecock when it hits the ground? Show your work below.
Using the equation we made above, v = at, we can multiply the acceleration by the time
it took for the object to fall to the ground. (-9.81 m/s^2 * 1.56s) = 15.3 m/s

v = 15.3 m/s

C. Select the BAR CHART tab. What is the final velocity of the shuttlecock? -15.35 m/s

D. Does this agree with your calculated value? Yes. The slight difference can be
attributed to Gizmos using more precicse numbers in their calculations.

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 Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity B:
 Click Reset.
Terminal velocity  Set the Initial height to 12 meters.
 Set the Atmosphere to Air.

Question: How does air resistance affect falling objects?

1. Observe: Select the Shuttlecock. Choose the BAR CHART tab, and click Play. What do
you notice about the velocity and acceleration of the shuttlecock?

As the velocity of the object increases, the acceleration decreases. The final acceleration is
almost 0 m/s^2. This is due to the object achieving terminal velocity as the force from air
resistance matches the force of gravity.

When objects fall through air for a long time, they will eventually stop accelerating. Their
velocity at this point is called terminal velocity.

2. Form hypothesis: How will an object’s size and mass affect its terminal velocity?

If the size of the object is increased or if the mass of the object is decreased, its terminal
velocity decreases due to its greater surface area and thus, more air resistance.

3. Experiment: Click Reset. On the DESCRIPTION tab, select Manual settings. Set the
Height to 100 m and the air density (ρ) to 1.3 kg/m3, close to actual air density at sea level.

For each combination of mass and radius in the charts below, find the terminal velocity
(vterminal) of the object. Use the BAR CHART tab to find the terminal velocity. (Hint: Turn on
Show numerical values.)

Mass Radius vterminal

1.0 g 3.0 cm -1.61 m/s
10.0 g 3.0 cm -5.47 m/s
50.0 g 3.0 cm -12.30 m/s

Mass Radius vterminal

10.0 g 2.0 cm -8.24 m/s
10.0 g 5.0 cm -3.19 m/s
10.0 g 10.0 cm -1.11 m/s

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4. Analyze: Your data show how mass and radius affect terminal velocity.

A. What was the effect of increasing mass? Object has a higher terminal velocity.

B. What was the effect of increasing radius? Object has a lower terminal velocity.

5. Apply: If you wanted to use a device to slow your fall, what properties should it have?

To slow falls, one can use an object such as a parachute. The ideal properties for
parachutes are to have a big surface area and a low mass.

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 Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity C:
 Click Reset.
Acceleration,
 Select Common objects.
distance, and time
 Set the Atmosphere to None.

Question: How long does it take an object to fall from a given height?

1. Observe: Select the Rock, and set the Initial height to 3 meters. Choose the GRAPH tab,
and click Play to drop the rock through a vacuum. Turn on all three graphs.

A. What is the shape of the graph of velocity vs. time? Velocity increases proportional to
time.

B. What is the shape of the graph of acceleration vs. time? Acceleration stays at –9.81
m/s^2 due to gravity.

2. Analyze: Select the TABLE tab and look at the v (m/s) column.

A. The starting velocity was 0 m/s, and the final velocity was -7.68 m/s. Based on this,

what was the average velocity of the rock? -3.92 m/s

B. In general, how do you find the average velocity of any object falling in a vacuum?

(Assume you know the final velocity.) Vf / 2

3. Calculate: Distance, average velocity, and time are related by the equation, d = vaverage • t

A. How much time did it take the rock to fall? 0.78s

B. What is the product of the average velocity and time? -3.92 m/s * 0.78s = 3.1 m/s

C. Does this equal the distance that the rock fell? Yes. The slight difference can be
attributed to Gizmos using more precicse numbers in their calculations.

4. Calculate: The acceleration of any object due to Earth’s gravity is -9.81 m/s2. For every
second an object falls, its velocity changes by 9.81 meters per second. For several different
times on the table, multiply the time by the acceleration.

A. What do you notice? Multiplying the time by the acceleration gives us the
instantaneous velocity of the object at that time.

B. If you know the acceleration and time, how can you calculate the final velocity?

Final velocity = at

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 C. Challenge: If you know the acceleration and time, how can you calculate the average

velocity? Average velocity = (t/2) * a

(Activity C continued on next page)

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Activity C (continued from previous page)

5. Make a rule: So far you have figured out two rules that relate time, acceleration, average
velocity, and distance. Review these rules now.

A. How do you find average velocity (vaverage) from acceleration (a) and time (t)?

Average velocity = (t/2) * a

B. How do you find distance (d) from average velocity (vaverage) and time (t)?

d = Vaverage * t

C. Now put the two equations together. Substitute your result in equation A for the
(vaverage) term in equation B. Your final equation should only have d, a, and t terms.

D = (t/2)a *t = (at^2)/2 = ½at^2

6. Apply: Use your rule to solve the following problems. Check your answers with the Gizmo.
Assume that each fall takes place in a vacuum with an acceleration of -9.81 m/s2.

A. A rock falls for 1.43 seconds. How far did it fall? d= ½at^2
d = ½(-9.81m/s^2)(1.43s)^2
d = -10.03m
d = -10.0m

B. How long will it take for a rock to fall 12 meters? d= ½at^2

12 = ½(-9.81 m/s^2)t^2
t^2 = 2.45
t = 1.56s
t = 1.6s

C. A rock falls for 4 seconds. How far did it fall? d= ½at^2

d = ½(-9.81 m/s^2)(4)^2
d = -78.48m
d = -80m

D. A rock falls for 3 seconds. What was its velocity when it hit the ground? Vf = Vi + at
Vf = 0 m/s + (-9.81 m/s^2)3s
Vf = -29.43 m/s
Vf = -30m/s

E. How long will it take for a rock to fall 50 meters? d= ½at^2

-50m = ½(-9.81 m/s^2)t^2
t^2 = 10.2
t = 3.19s
t = 3s

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