Understanding Free Fall
* No Air Resistance: Free fall means the object is only under the influence of gravity. We're ignoring air resistance for this scenario.
* Constant Acceleration: The acceleration due to gravity (g) is constant near the Earth's surface, approximately 9.8 m/s². This means the object's velocity increases by 9.8 m/s every second it falls.
Free Body Diagram
1. The Object: Draw a simple representation of the object (a circle, a box, etc.).
2. Force of Gravity (Weight):
* Draw a downward arrow pointing towards the center of the Earth.
* Label this arrow "mg" (where 'm' is the mass of the object and 'g' is the acceleration due to gravity).
That's it! In free fall, the only force acting on the object is gravity.
Important Notes:
* No Normal Force: The object is falling freely, so it's not in contact with any surface. Therefore, there's no normal force.
* Air Resistance: In reality, air resistance (drag) exists. However, for a simplified free-fall scenario, we ignore this force.
Example:
Imagine a ball dropped from a height. Here's how the free body diagram would look:
[Image of a circle with a downward arrow labelled "mg"]
Let me know if you'd like to explore other free body diagram scenarios!
