science

[morgangilson]

which falls quicker ping pong or basketball?

[gen2]

It depends upon what they are falling through.

In a vacuum, they will both fall at the same rate.

In air, the air resistance will affect the ping pong ball more so the basketball will fall faster.

In water, the basketball and ping pong ball will both float so neither will fall at all.

[Clanad]

If both were released in a vacuum, they would fall at the same rate... however, in this particular case, the ping pong ball's weight to air resistance ratio is considerably lower than that of the basketball that there will be a measurable difference in favor of the basketball...

[Clanad]

Hmmm... no answers were present when I started my response... so... two for the same money...

[DavidUK]

Without air resistance they would fall at the same speed. In air, the basketball has greater air resistance because it is bigger and so it would be slowed down more than the ping pong ball. So, in air, the ping pong ball would fall faster.

[Tim Baxter]

I don't think that the p/p ball would fall faster than the b/ball.  The b/ball mus fall faster in air because it is shedloads heavier than the p/p ball.  (weight to surface area ratio)  Try to imagine a vacuum cleaner blowing a vertical column of air upwards from its hose.  It would easily support a p/p ball, how long would it support a b/ball for?

[DavidUK]

I think I jumped in too quickly with my previous response - it was not entirely true! The acceleration of each ball will be (g - Fd/m) where g is gravitational acceleration, Fd is drag force and m is mass. So, the actual speed is dependent upon the ratio Fd/m and Fd is related to size.

In other words, the heavier weight of the basket ball will tend to make it fall faster but the larger size will increase drag and will make it fall slower. The final result, therefore, depends on the Fd/m ratio of the ping pong ball compared to the Fd/m ratio of the basket ball. The ball with the smallest ratio will fall fastest.

[Tim Baxter]

The p/p ball would still fall slower.

[DavidUK]

I carried out an experiment last night. I dropped a ping pong ball and a plastic football from a bedroom window, being very careful to release both at the same time. The ping pong ball landed slightly before the football every time. My two sons were at ground level to determine which landed first (so I didn't have to judge it from the bedroom window).

[Tim Baxter]

OK DavidUK, normal time to fall from your bedroom window is about .6 sec.  Nobody can claim to be able to see a subtle difference in acceleration under gravity in such a short time, try taking your experiment to Pisa!