Imagine you drop a ball from your hand, it falls to the ground because Earth pulls it down, and that pull is called gravity.
When something falls, it speeds up as it goes, this speed-up is called acceleration, and on Earth, that acceleration due to gravity is about 9.8 m/s². That means every second you fall, your speed increases by almost 10 meters per second!
Why Is It 9.8?
Think of Earth like a big, strong friend who always pulls things toward it. No matter how heavy the object is, whether it’s a feather or a rock, Earth pulls them all with the same strength per kilogram.
So even though a rock feels heavier than a feather, both fall at the same speed in the air (if there's no wind messing things up). This is because Earth’s pull is strong and consistent, like a clock ticking every second.
How We Got 9.8
Long ago, people did experiments to find out exactly how fast things fall. They dropped objects from tall buildings and measured their speed. Over time, they found the number that best fits our world: 9.8 m/s². It’s not magic, it's just Earth being Earth! Imagine you drop a ball from your hand, it falls to the ground because Earth pulls it down, and that pull is called gravity.
When something falls, it speeds up as it goes, this speed-up is called acceleration, and on Earth, that acceleration due to gravity is about 9.8 m/s². That means every second you fall, your speed increases by almost 10 meters per second!
Why Is It 9.8?
Think of Earth like a big, strong friend who always pulls things toward it. No matter how heavy the object is, whether it’s a feather or a rock, Earth pulls them all with the same strength per kilogram.
So even though a rock feels heavier than a feather, both fall at the same speed in the air (if there's no wind messing things up). This is because Earth’s pull is strong and consistent, like a clock ticking every second.
Examples
- Kids on a swing move back and forth because of gravity's pull.
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See also
- Why is g 9.81 m/s/s?
- What is 9.8 m/s²?
- Can gravity be manipulated?
- Minute Physics: What is Gravity?
- How Does Acceleration Due to Gravity - GCSE Physics Work?