A backpack full of books and an empty backpack are dropped from the same height. If there is no air resistance, which bag will hit the ground first?
a
This cannot be determined because the dimensions of the bags are needed.
b
The full bag will hit the ground first.
c
The empty bag will hit the ground first.
d
They will both hit the ground at the same time.
d - They will both hit the ground at the same time (if we assume that the two backpacks are identical in size and shape and have the same mass regardless of their content). According to the principle of gravitational acceleration, all objects fall at the same rate regardless of their mass, as long as there is no air resistance. This is often referred to as the "Galileo's experiment" or the "feather and hammer" experiment. Therefore, in this scenario, both backpacks will reach the ground at the same time.
d) They will both hit the ground at the same time.
Since there is no air resistance, both backpacks will experience the same acceleration due to gravity as they fall. The mass or weight of the backpacks does not affect their rate of descent. Therefore, both backpacks will hit the ground at the same time.
The correct answer is d) They will both hit the ground at the same time.
In the absence of air resistance, the weight of an object does not affect its rate of fall. Both the full backpack and the empty backpack will experience the same acceleration due to gravity, regardless of their weight. According to the laws of physics, all objects fall at the same rate of 9.8 meters per second squared (m/s^2) near the surface of the Earth.
To understand this concept, you can perform a thought experiment and analyze the forces acting on the two backpacks. The force acting on both backpacks is their weight, which is equal to the mass of the backpack multiplied by the acceleration due to gravity. Since the weight of the full backpack is greater than that of the empty backpack, it might seem that the full backpack would accelerate faster. However, Newton's second law states that the acceleration of an object depends on both the force acting on it and its mass. The force of gravity exerted on the full backpack is greater due to its heavier weight, but the mass of the backpack is also greater. As a result, the higher force and higher mass cancel each other out, leading to the same acceleration for both backpacks.
Therefore, regardless of their weight, both the full backpack and the empty backpack will hit the ground simultaneously when dropped from the same height in the absence of air resistance.