Free Fall Section 3-3

Acceleration Due to Gravity Acceleration Due to Gravity – the acceleration of an object in free fall that results from the influence of Earth’s gravity g (acceleration due to gravity) = 9.8 m/s2 g is a positive number

A Dropped Object Every second an object falls it increases the velocity 9.8 m/s After 1 second the velocity is 9.8 m/s After 2 seconds the velocity is 19.6 m/s

Ball thrown upward Upward is chosen as the positive direction Initial velocity is positive Acceleration is negative “g” or -9.8 m/s2 Example on pages 72 and 73

Free-Fall Rides Free fall rides are designed to give you the feeling of free fall They consist of three parts, one where the ride goes up, momentary suspension, and the free fall The lack of force holding up on the riders gives them a feeling of free fall