eli5 Tire rolling down hill

Question

I am literally 5 compared physicists-a tire rolls down hill and it keeps rolling faster can it increase in speed infinitely as long as the hill is infinitely large?

In: 0

Answer 1

It’s my understanding that, even in a vacuum, an object can’t fall faster than the planets escape velocity. Rolling resistance from contact with hill aside, escape velocity of the earth is 11.2 km/s. So that’s as fast as it could roll under ideal hypothetical conditions.