9.8 m/s² is how fast things fall on Earth because of gravity.
Imagine you drop your favorite toy from a table. As soon as it leaves your hand, something pushes it down, that’s gravity! Gravity makes everything fall toward the ground. Now, think about when you jump up and come back down. You feel that pull too!
How fast does it go?
When you let your toy drop, it starts at 0 speed, like it's lazy at first. But gravity gives it a little push every second. After one second, it’s going 9.8 meters per second! That means if something falls for 2 seconds, it goes twice as fast, around 19.6 meters per second!
You can even try this with your friend. If you both drop things at the same time, they’ll hit the ground together, no magic needed, just gravity doing its job every day!
Examples
- A ball falling from a tree hits the ground faster than one dropped from a lower branch.
- A person jumping off a diving board falls toward the water at a constant rate.
- You feel heavier on Earth because of this number.
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See also
- What is mass?
- What are gravitational force between two objects?
- What is Newton’s law of universal gravitation?
- Why does gravity make things fall?
- What If We Dug a Hole All the Way Through Earth?