Do fast moving objects fall slower?

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I know planes can turn forward motion into upward force, but would a sphere take longer to hit the ground if it was launched straight forward at high speed than it would if it was dropped straight down.

Edit: what about frisbees or throw playing cards? are they actually falling slower because they’re moving fast or are they just maintaining maximum air resistance?

In: Physics

6 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Consider the extreme case: an object moving horizontally fast enough will enter orbit and thus never hit the ground. Such an object is constantly falling and is subject to constant acceleration, but the distance to the ground does not decrease at all. The other extreme is an object with no horizontal speed, which quickly falls to the ground. It makes sense that something between those extremes would experience something in between, falling, but taking longer to reach the ground. This happens because the planet is curved, and so the ground “falls away” from a fast moving object.

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