Related questions with answers

If you drop a sheet of paper and a book side by side, not surprisingly the book falls faster than the paper. If you place the paper against the lower surface of the raised book and again drop them at the same time, they hit the floor at the same time. The book simply pushes the paper with it as it falls. Repeat, but with the paper on top of the book, and not sticking over its edge. How will the accelerations of the book and paper compare? Will these objects separate and fall differently? Or will they have the same acceleration? Try it and see! Then explain what happens.

When you drop two balls of different weights from the same height, you will see that for low speeds, they practically fall together. What happens if you let them roll together down the same inclined plane? If each is suspended from the same length string, made into a pendulum, and then displaced through the same angle, determine whether they swing back and forth in unison.

Drop a sheet of paper and a coin at the same time. Which reaches the ground first? Why? Now crumple the paper into a small, tight wad and again drop it with the coin. Explain the difference observed. Will they fall together if dropped from a second-, third-, or fourthstory window? Explain your observations.