Free Fall and Gravitational Acceleration
Helpful before this lesson
- Not completed: Acceleration
- Not completed: Gravity and Universal Gravitation
These topics can make this lesson easier, but you can start now.
Learning Objectives
- Students will understand that all objects in free fall have the same acceleration
- Students will calculate motion of freely falling objects
- Students will understand that g = 9.8 m/s² is independent of mass
Core Concepts
- Free fall: motion under gravity alone (ignoring air resistance)
- Gravitational acceleration: g = 9.8 m/s² (constant for all objects)
- Kinematic equations apply to falling objects