Why do objects of different sizes fall at the same speed, even though gravity has a larger pull on larger objects?

Question

Why do objects of different sizes fall at the same speed, even though gravity has a larger pull on larger objects?

In: 5

Answer 1

The force felt by gravity goes up, like you say. But an object’s *inertia*, or its resistance to being moved, goes up with its mass too, exactly as much. These cancel out and every object will fall at the same speed.

The equations are:

Force = G * mass1 * mass2 / distance²

Acceleration1 = Force / mass1

If you combine them:

Acceleration1 = G * ~~mass1~~ * mass2 / distance² * ~~mass1~~

So if you want to know the acceleration felt by one of the masses, its mass cancels out and all that matters is the mass of the other object and the distance.