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All 10 Flashcards — Free fall
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Question
What is 'free fall'?
Answer
Motion where **gravity is the only force** acting — air resistance is ignored.
Question
What is the acceleration of free fall, g?
Answer
**g = 9.81 m s⁻²**, directed **downward** (given on the data booklet).
Question
Does a heavier object fall faster in free fall?
Answer
**No** — with no air resistance every object accelerates at the same g = 9.81 m s⁻².
Question
How do you handle free fall in suvat?
Answer
It is constant-acceleration motion with **a = g**. Take up as positive, so a = −9.81 m s⁻².
Question
At the highest point of a thrown ball, what are its velocity and acceleration?
Answer
**Velocity = 0** for an instant; **acceleration = 9.81 m s⁻² downward** (still g).
Question
What is 'up–down symmetry' in free fall?
Answer
Time up to the top = time back down. Total flight time = **2 × time to the top**.
Question
A ball returns to the height it was thrown from. Its displacement?
Answer
**Zero** — it ends where it started; it lands at the **same speed**, moving downward.
Question
Find the landing speed of a ball thrown up at u and caught at the same height.
Answer
Same speed **u**, but downward: velocity = **−u** (up positive).
Question
How fast is something moving after being dropped from rest for time t?
Answer
$v = gt$ — e.g. after 2.0 s, v = 9.81 × 2.0 ≈ 20 m s⁻¹.
Question
Why does the v–t line for a thrown ball cross zero?
Answer
Going up the velocity is positive; at the top it is zero; coming down it is negative — same slope (g) throughout.
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Kinematics
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