I know, I know. It's a fact that two objects with different masses will fall to the surface of the Earth at the same speed, considering that they were in a vaccumm. Newton knew that and everybody knows that.
But something doesn't make sense to me and I'd like to understand it.
Objects fall because the Earth (or whatever planet they might be at, for that matter) applies a force of gravity on them (I know gravity isn't a force, but in the Newtonian physics, it is). The gravity of Earth is 9.81 m/s^2 and it applies the same to all objects.
However, the force of gravity is directly proportional to product of the mass of the objects and inversely proportional to the squared distance between them. If mass is a factor on the equation of gravity, then objects with more mass should have a stronger pull towards Earth.
I know that fhe difference in gravity between a hammer and a feather would be miniscule, even negligible, but not an absolute zero. It could have important consequences in terms of the speed at which planets fall (or, more formally, gravitate) around the sun.
Am I right that they actually don't fall at *exactly* the same speed?
I know, I know. It's a fact that two objects with different masses will fall to the surface of the Earth at the same speed, considering that they were in a vaccumm. Newton knew that and everybody knows that. But something doesn't make sense to me and I'd like to understand it. Objects fall because the Earth (or whatever planet they might be at, for that matter) applies a force of gravity on them (I know gravity isn't a force, but in the Newtonian physics, it is). The gravity of Earth is 9.81 m/s^2 and it applies the same to all objects. However, the force of gravity is directly proportional to product of the mass of the objects and inversely proportional to the squared distance between them. If mass is a factor on the equation of gravity, then objects with more mass should have a stronger pull towards Earth. I know that fhe difference in gravity between a hammer and a feather would be miniscule, even negligible, but not an absolute zero. It could have important consequences in terms of the speed at which planets fall (or, more formally, gravitate) around the sun. Am I right that they actually don't fall at *exactly* the same speed?