Acceleration due to Gravity

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Additional information

Useful websites

1. The Value of "g". This is a good resource to study the variation of “g” at various distances above the Earth's atmosphere.
2. This article examines the Galileo experiment and discusses if there are other possible explanations.

Teaching Outlines

1. Gravitational force due to the Earth produces an acceleration in the objects. This is the force acting on a freely falling object.
2. The value of acceleration is not dependent on the mass.
3. All freely falling bodies gain same acceleration.

Concept #1 - Gravitational force due to the Earth produces an acceleration

Learning objectives

1. To understand what causes an object to fall - the force and the acceleration
2. Calculating the value of "g"

Notes for teachers

These are short notes that the teacher wants to share about the concept, any locally relevant information, specific instructions on what kind of methodology used and common misconceptions/mistakes.

Free fall and acceleration due to gravity

A freely falling body undergoes acceleration. This acceleration is caused by the gravitational force exerted by the larger mass of the Earth. This is referred to as acceleration due to gravity. The Earth also undergoes an acceleration due to the gravitational force exerted by the object. We do not notice it because of the mass of the Earth. This is represented by "g" and has the value of 9.8 m/s^2.

For further details and derivation click here.

Activity No #1 – Observe a freely falling body

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• Estimated Time - 30 minutes
• Materials/ Resources needed
• Prerequisites/Instructions, if any

1. Good quality clock with high precision of measurement
2. This experiment will be difficult to measure

• Multimedia resources
• Website interactives/ links/ simulations
• Process (How to do the activity)
  

1. Ask a child to drop a piece of chalk from terrace
2. Start the stop clock as soon as the child drops it.
3. Put off the clock as soon as the chalk touches the ground, note down the time taken
4. Repeat the same expt with a stone,& calculate the time

• Developmental Questions (What discussion questions)

1. What was the time taken?
2. Was it the same?
3. Why would it be so?
4. Do the students relate it to the equations of motion they have studied?

Evaluation (Questions for assessment of the child)

• Question Corner

Activity No #2 - Freely falling Object

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• Estimated Time - 30 minutes
• Materials/ Resources needed - Projector
• Prerequisites/Instructions, if any
• Multimedia resources

Image:

The image on the side, spanning half a second, was captured with a stroboscopic flash at 20 flashes per second. During the first 1⁄20 of a second the ball drops one unit of distance (here, a unit is about 12 mm); by 2⁄20 it has dropped at total of 4 units; by 3⁄20, 9 units and so on. Check here for a more detailed description.

• Website interactives/ links/ simulations
• Process (How to do the activity)

1. Project the picture for the class and discuss the following questions

• Developmental Questions (What discussion questions)

1. Where is the ball at time = 0?
2. In the first (1/20)th of a second, what is the distance travelled by ball?
3. In the second (1/20)th of a second, what is the distance travelled by ball?
4. How does the distance fallen increase with time?
5. What can you say about the motion?

• Evaluation (Questions for assessment of the child)
• Question Corner

Will the ball also attract the Earth and produce an acceleration?

Concept #2 - Weight

Learning objectives

1. Every particle has mass; weight is a force acting on a mass due to the gravitational pull.
2. This force experienced by an object due to the gravitational pull of the Earth is what we call the weight. Weight is nothing but the force exerted on a mass due to the gravitational pull of the Earth.

Notes for teachers

These are short notes that the teacher wants to share about the concept, any locally relevant information, specific instructions on what kind of methodology used and common misconceptions/mistakes.

How do we perceive this weight?

When you stand on a surface, the force of the Earth's gravity is acting upon you downwards and there is a normal force exerted by the surface on which you stand. Since you stand on a firm surface and there is no acceleration, the normal force is equal to the gravitational force and this is equal to mg. If an object is suspended from a spring, the gravitational force will be balanced by the tension force in the string.

Weight is that supporting force felt by an object in equilibrium; this opposes and balances the gravitational pull of the Earth. Thus, humans experience their own body weight as a result of this supporting force, which results in a normal force applied to a person by the surface of a supporting object, on which the person is standing or sitting. In the absence of this force, a person would be in free-fall, and would experience weightlessness. It is the transmission of this reaction force through the human body, and the resultant compression and tension of the body's tissues, that results in the sensation of weight.

When an object is in equilibrium, it only experiences the gravitational and restoring force/ Weight is mass multiplied by the acceleration due t gravity

Activity No # 1 Understanding weight and mass

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• Estimated Time - 40 minutes
• Materials/ Resources needed - Projector, computer
• Prerequisites/Instructions, if any
• Multimedia resources

• Website interactives/ links/ simulations
• Process (How to do the activity)

1. After playing the video, discuss the following questions with the students

• Developmental Questions (What discussion questions)

1. What does mass represent?
2. What is weight? (Effect of Earth's gravitational force on the mass)
3. Is weight a force? How can you say?
4. Why would the weight of a body vary in various parts of the Earth?

• Evaluation (Questions for assessment of the child)
• Question Corner

Activity No #

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• Estimated Time
• Materials/ Resources needed
• Prerequisites/Instructions, if any
• Multimedia resources
• Website interactives/ links/ simulations
• Process (How to do the activity)
• Developmental Questions (What discussion questions)
• Evaluation (Questions for assessment of the child)
• Question Corner

Fun corner

Hammer and feather drop: Click here to see Apollo 15 astronaut David Scott on the Moon recreating Galileo's famous gravity experiment.

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