Here's why:
* Gravity's Constant Pull: The acceleration due to gravity (g) is constant near the Earth's surface, approximately 9.8 m/s². This means every object, regardless of its mass, experiences the same acceleration when falling freely.
* Neglecting Air Resistance: This explanation assumes we're neglecting air resistance. In reality, air resistance can affect the acceleration of objects differently depending on their shape, size, and density.
Galileo's Experiment: Galileo famously demonstrated this principle by dropping objects of different masses from the Leaning Tower of Pisa. He observed that they reached the ground at the same time, proving that acceleration due to gravity is independent of mass.
Key Point: The force of gravity acting on an object is directly proportional to its mass (F = mg). However, the acceleration due to gravity is independent of mass because a larger mass experiences a larger gravitational force, but also has a larger inertia (resistance to change in motion). These two effects cancel each other out, resulting in the same acceleration for all objects in freefall.
