Free falling in outer space - Matt J. Carlson

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/free-falling-in-outer-space-matt-j-carlson 

If you were to orbit the Earth, you'd experience the feeling of free fall, not unlike what your stomach feels before a big dive on a roller coaster. With a little help from Sir Isaac Newton, Matt J. Carlson explains the basic forces acting on an astronaut and why you probably shouldn't try this one at home.

 Lesson by Matt J. Carlson, animation by Josh Harris.

 

Feather and Coin in a Vacuum

The free fall of a coin and feather are compared, first in a tube full of air and then in a vacuum. With air resistance, the feathers fall more slowly. In a vacuum, the objects fall at the same rate independent of their respective masses.

 

Free falling in outer space - Matt J. Carlson

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/free-falling-in-outer-space-matt-j-carlson

If you were to orbit the Earth, you'd experience the feeling of free fall, not unlike what your stomach feels before a big dive on a roller coaster. With a little help from Sir Isaac Newton, Matt J. Carlson explains the basic forces acting on an astronaut and why you probably shouldn't try this one at home.

 Lesson by Matt J. Carlson, animation by Josh Harris.

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 20. Skydiver Problem

Paul poses and solves a problem involving Suzie Skydiver, who dives and attains terminal velocity.

Other Hewitt-Drew-it! videos

 

Misconceptions About Falling Objects - ABC Catalyst

A basketball and a 5 kg ball: which one will hit the ground first?
This is a remake of this video.

Other Veritasium videos

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 12.Free Fall

Paul investigates and develops free-fall equations as Phil Physiker drops a boulder, with a speedometer attached, from a high cliff.

Other Hewitt-Drew-it! videos

Terminal Velocity

The terminal velocity of an object is the speed at which the force of drag equals the force of gravity on that object.

Other Sci-Show videos

 

Shoot-n-Drop

An apparatus that at once shoots a billiard ball horizontally and drops another one vertically from an equal height. Even though the two have different initial velocities, they both accelerate in the same direction and at the same rate due to Earth's gravity--this is confirmed by seeing and hearing both balls land simultaneously.

While we did our best to make sure the setup is level and the apparatus is precise, the video shows the balls actually land about 0.02 s apart from each other (the slow-motion part was done in 60 fps, and there seems to be a difference of about 1 frame). We consider this difference to be negligibly small. Normally the apparatus is positioned about 2 meters above the floor, and the difference in landing time is just as imperceptible. You will notice the "drop-ball" bounces towards the center of the picture. We think this is mostly because the concrete floor has small pockmarks and other local irregularities, which on average combine to form a level surface but individually can cause funny bounces. The ball may also have a very small horizontal velocity due to the way in which it is dropped.

Other Harvard demonstrations