The discussion revolves around the concept of free fall acceleration in the context of introductory physics, specifically questioning whether it remains constant at -9.8 m/s² until an object impacts the ground.
The discussion includes various perspectives on the constancy of gravitational acceleration and the role of air resistance. Some participants suggest that gravitational acceleration can be treated as constant in introductory physics problems, while others emphasize the impact of air resistance and introduce concepts like terminal velocity. There is no explicit consensus on the interpretation of these concepts.
Participants reference introductory physics problems that typically assume a vacuum, neglecting air resistance, which may influence their understanding of free fall acceleration.
That's correct. There's no air resistance in that equation.Jynku said:
It's not the acceleration that is constant, it's the gravitational force. (And that's only a reasonable approximation when you are close to Earth.)Jynku said:
It is assumed that there is vacuum around the falling object.Jynku said:
I don’t think there is any serious decrease in gravitational acceleration. We can take it as constant .PeroK said:
Do you know anything about air resistance?
The acceleration is most certainly reduced by air resistance, which is surely the point of the question. Look up "terminal velocity".rudransh verma said: