Editing Free Falling (section)

== Why This Works ==

''Gravity'' is an attractive force between really big masses, measured on the astronomical scale. We experience a gravitation acceleration towards the earth because it has a lot of mass, and likewise the earth experiences gravity from the sun because the sun is so much bigger than it. The force of gravity on earth is:
{| class="wikitable" style="color:black; background-color:#ddd; margin-right: auto"
| Force of Gravity: '''F<sub>g</sub>''' =
| mass * gravitational acceleration = '''m'''*'''g'''
|-
| Gravitational Acceleration: '''g''' =
| 9.81 meters/s<sup>2</sup> OR 32.1 feet/s<sup>2</sup>
|}

Everything on the surface of the earth experiences the same amount of gravitational acceleration, but this can be hard to see due to the air that is all around us. ''Air resistance'' is the amount of frictional force that a falling or moving object can experience with the air around it, since it needs to move through the air around it. If we have two objects of similar size but different mass, we see that the more massive object falls faster. This is because, although the objects experience the same amount of air resistance, the more massive object will have more gravitational force to it because of the extra mass. This larger gravitational force means that the object is able to overcome more of the air resistance, which allows it to accelerate more.

When we have the objects fall in the tube, we see them fall at the same speed. This is because there is little to no air inside the tube, which means that there is little to no air resistance. Because there is less air to push against, both objects can experience the full acceleration of gravity, and will fall at the same rate!