If a feather and a baseball are dropped in the presence of air resistance, which ball will hit the ground first?
a
the baseball
b
the feather
c
they will hit at the same time
a - the baseball
The correct answer is c) they will hit at the same time.
When both the feather and the baseball are dropped in the presence of air resistance, they will experience a force called air drag or air resistance. Air resistance is a force that opposes the motion of an object through the air. It depends on the shape, size, and speed of the object.
In the case of the feather, it has a much larger surface area compared to the baseball, which means it experiences more air resistance. This air resistance slows down the feather's fall, causing it to take longer to reach the ground.
On the other hand, the baseball has a smaller surface area and experiences less air resistance than the feather. Therefore, the baseball falls more quickly towards the ground compared to the feather.
However, it is important to note that in this scenario, we are assuming that both the feather and the baseball are dropped from the same height and under the same conditions. If dropped from different heights or under other varying conditions, the results may differ.
c) they will hit at the same time.
Both the feather and the baseball will experience air resistance as they fall. However, the feather has a much larger surface area compared to the baseball, which means it will experience a greater air resistance force. This air resistance force will slow down the feather more than the baseball, causing them to fall at a similar rate. Therefore, they will hit the ground at the same time.