Omar

moosa
Name: ___________ Date: 2020

Student Exploration: Free Fall Tower

Vocabulary: accelerate, air resistance, free fall, gravity, terminal velocity, vacuum

Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)

1. Patty climbs a tree. While sitting on a branch, she drops a leaf and an acorn at the same

time. What would happen? The acorn will hit the ground first if there is no air resistance but

if there is, the would fall at the same time__________________________________

2. Patty decides to try another experiment. From the same branch, she drops a large, heavy

rock and a small pebble. What would happen this time? They would will hit the ground at the

same time._____________________________________________________________

Gizmo Warm-up
In the Free Fall Tower Gizmo™, drag a pair of objects (no parachutes)
to the top of the tower, one to each platform. Check that Air is selected.

Click Play ( ). The objects are now in free fall, pulled to Earth by the
force of gravity.

1. What did you drop? Soccer ball golf ball

2. Did the objects fall at the same rate? no

3. Which object fell faster? The golf ball.

4. Click Reset ( ). Drop each possible combination of objects without parachutes.

A. Which object fell fastest? watermelon Slowest? Ping-pong ball

B. Why do you think some objects fall faster than others? The objects with greater
density fall faster than objects with smaller density._______________________

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 Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity A:
 Click Reset.
Free fall in a
 Under Choose atmosphere, select Vacuum (no
vacuum
air).

Question: A vacuum is a region with no air or any other matter. How do different objects
fall through a vacuum?

1. Form hypothesis: How do you think objects will fall when there is no air? If there is no air,
then both objects will land at the same time, because there isn’t gravity._______________

2. Experiment: Drop the different objects from the top of the tower. What do you notice?

They both hit the ground at the same time.

3. Observe: Click Reset. Drop the watermelon and the ping pong ball from the top of the tower.
Watch the speedometers. They show each object’s speed in meters per second (m/s).

A. What do you notice? The speed is the same in both objects.

B. What is the final speed of each object? 2.86 m/s

C. An object is accelerating if its speed is changing. What can you say about the

acceleration of objects falling in a vacuum? The acceleration of objects when there is

no air is constant.

4. Interpret: Select the GRAPH tab. The graph shows the speeds of the objects over time.

A. What do the lines on the graph look like? The graphs are lineal and the exact same.

B. What does that tell you? The speed of both objects was increasing at a constant

rate.

5. Extend your thinking: In 1971, Apollo 15 commander Dave Scott dropped a hammer and a
feather on the Moon, which has no air. What do you think happened? Explain your answer.

If Dave Scott dropped a hammer and a feather on the Moon, where there is no air, they
would both hit the ground are the same time, because of the lack of gravity.
(If you are on a computer, click here to see a video of this experiment.)

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 Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity B:
 Select the EXPERIMENT tab.
Air Resistance  Click Reset.
 Under Choose atmosphere, select Air.

Question: How does air affect falling objects?

1. Observe: In Air, drop the objects from different levels of the tower. Look carefully at the
speedometers as the objects drop. What do you notice?

The speed of the objects decreases. _

2. Form hypothesis: When objects fall through the air, they are pushed by a force called air
resistance. How do you think air resistance affects falling objects?

If an object falls through the air, then the speed decreases as it falls, because air resistance
is an upwards force fighting gravity.

3. Experiment: Each platform on the tower is 5 meters higher than the one below it. Drop the
ping pong ball from the lowest (5 meter) platform, then the next platform (10 m) and so on.
For each height, record the final speed of the ping pong ball in meters per second (m/s).

Height 5m 10 m 15 m 20 m 25 m 30 m 35 m 40 m
7.32 8.25 8.47 8.53 8.55 8.55 8.55 8.55
Speed
m/s m/s m/s m/s m/s m/s m/s m/s

4. Analyze: As an object falls through air, the object does not get steadily faster but
approaches Terminal Velocity.

A. What is the terminal velocity of the ping pong ball? 8.55 m/s

B. Select the GRAPH tab. How does the graph show terminal velocity? When the curve

of the graph flattens out, it reaches terminal velocity.

5. Compare: Drop the soccer ball and the golf ball from the top of the tower. Which ball was

slowed down more by air resistance? The soccer ball.

6. Extend your thinking: A soccer ball is heavier than a golf ball. Why do you think the soccer
ball fell more slowly than the golf ball?

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 On objects of greater surface area, air resistance is stronger. Therefore, the golf ball fell

faster than the soccer ball.

Get the Gizmo ready:

Question: How does a parachute affect a falling object?

1. Observe: Drag objects with parachutes to the tower. (Parachutes look like little backpacks.)
As the objects drop, click Open parachute(s). Compare how parachutes affect each object.

2. Form hypothesis: How will a parachute change the air resistance and terminal velocity of an

object? The air resistance will be greater so the terminal velocity will be lesser.

3. Collect data: Find the terminal velocity of each object when the parachute is open.

Ping pong ball with parachute: 0.55 m/s Soccer ball with parachute: 5.46 m/s

Golf ball with parachute: 2.30 m/s Watermelon with parachute: 14.93 m/s

4. Analyze: The watermelon is heaviest, followed by the soccer ball, golf ball and ping pong
ball. How does the weight of an object relate to how fast it falls with a parachute?

The heavier the object, the greater the number of its terminal velocity.

5. Interpret: Select the GRAPH tab. How does the graph show when the parachute is opened?

The velocity suddenly drops and stays constant till it hits the ground.

6. Predict: Will a parachute work in a vacuum? No Why or why not? The parachute works
because of air resistance. In a vacuum without air, there is no air resistance.

7. Test: Use the Gizmo to test your prediction. Did the parachute work? No

8. Summarize: What controls how fast an object falls? All objects have the same falling velocity
and acceleration. With air, air resistance determined by an object’s surface area affects its
falling speed. In a vacuum, nothing impacts the falling speed.

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