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Gravitational force acts on all objects in proportion to their... - Science
Question
Gravitational force acts on all objects in proportion to their masses. Why then, a heavy object does not fall faster than a light object?
Answer
This happens because acceleration due to gravity is independent of the mass of the object.
Reason:
While the gravitational force is proportional to mass (
F = mg), the acceleration is the ratio of Force to Mass (a = F/m).The formula for acceleration due to gravity is:
g = \frac{GM}{R^2}
(Where M is the mass of the Earth and R is the radius).Since the mass of the object (
m) does not appear in this formula, all objects (whether heavy or light) fall with the same acceleration.