Every second that any solid object falls toward Earth, its speed increases by another 9.8 m/s. After 10 seconds of “free fall”, which of the following objects will be falling the fastest?

Question

Every second that any solid object falls toward Earth, its speed increases by another 9.8 m/s. After 10 seconds of “free fall”, which of the following objects will be falling the fastest?

Choose the best answer from the options below:
A bowling ball
B pencil
C tennis racket
D baseball
E ALL are traveling at the same speed

Answer 1

E - ALL are traveling at the same speed.

In free fall, all objects experience the same acceleration due to gravity, which is approximately 9.8 m/s². Therefore, after 10 seconds of free fall, all objects will be falling at the same speed regardless of their mass or shape.

Answer 2

After 10 seconds of free fall, all objects will be falling at the same speed. The acceleration due to gravity is constant for all objects, so regardless of their size, shape, or mass, they will all experience the same increase in speed of 9.8 m/s every second. Therefore, the correct answer is E) ALL objects are traveling at the same speed.