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All objects fall at the same rate due to gravity, which varies depending on the object’s position. On Earth, gravity is approximately 32.2 ft/sec2, while on the moon it is one-sixth of that. The acceleration due to gravity on different planets can be calculated using an equation. Air resistance affects the speed of fall on Earth.
All objects, regardless of size, will fall at the same rate: the acceleration of gravity. This is the speed at which an object falls in free fall. That is, it is the speed with which an object accelerates towards the center of the Earth. This value is not constant but changes with the position of the free falling object.
On Earth, the acceleration due to gravity is approximately 32.2 ft/sec2 (9.8 m/s2). This means that an object will accelerate 32.2 ft/sec (9.8 m/s) for every second it falls. In other words, the longer an object falls, the faster it falls. Think of it as a car that is constantly accelerating. The car would keep going faster and faster the longer it was driven. Similarly, an object that falls for three seconds will go faster than an object that falls for one second.
This rate of acceleration largely depends on the surface towards which the object is falling. Many of us will only experience gravity in relation to Earth, but the number will change dramatically if we were on another celestial body. The acceleration due to gravity is much less on the moon, for example. In fact, it is one-sixth that of Earth, a value of about 5.3 ft/s2 (1.6 m/s2). An object will fall towards the moon at a much slower rate.
Using the equation, g=GM/R2, the acceleration due to gravity of different objects in space can be calculated. In the equation, g is gravity, G is the gravitational constant, R is the radius of the planet, and M is the mass of the planet. By doing the calculations, physicists have determined that the acceleration due to gravity on Jupiter is about 85.3 ft/s2 (26 m/s2). Pluto, on the other hand, has a value of 2 ft/s2 (0.61 m/s2). You can see that planets with more mass have a higher acceleration due to gravity than planets with less mass.
If the world were a vacuum, these values would represent real life. On the moon, the air is a vacuum, and so objects fall to the ground under the acceleration of the lunar gravity. On Earth, however, we have air resistance, the force of air pushing against an object as it falls. This is why a feather floats on Earth while a bowling ball plummets, even though gravity acts on both objects equally. To accurately calculate the speed of fall of an object, the air resistance must be taken into account.
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