Teach lesson
Which falls first, the heavy ball or the light one?
Students use the Free Fall remote lab to predict, observe, and compare whether a heavy ball reaches the floor much sooner than a light ball.
Learning Outcomes
Predict which of two balls you think will reach the floor first.
Observe and record the fall time shown by the lab for each ball.
Compare the two times and say whether they are "almost the same" or "very different".
the two balls fall almost at the same time.
Student activity preview
Activity Content
Preview only. In a class session, students can fill in responses and submit their work to the teacher.
1 · What do you think will happen?
5 min
You are going to drop two balls from the same height:
- the metal ball, which is heavy,
- and the white golf ball, which is light.
Both balls start still and fall toward the floor. Before testing anything, think and choose your answer.
If we drop both balls from the same height, which one do you think will reach the floor first?
Why do you think so? Write one sentence in your own words.
2 · To the lab!
15 min
Now we will test it for real with the remote lab. You will drop each ball from
1.30 m and look at the fall time shown in seconds.
Open the Free Fall lab.
Under Choose the object, choose the metal ball.
Under Choose the height, choose 1.30 m.
Release the ball and look at the final fall time in seconds. Write it in the row for the metal ball.
Now choose the white golf ball, keep the height at 1.30 m, and release it.
Look again at the final fall time and write it in the row for the white golf ball.
3 · Look and record
10 min
Write the time you saw for each ball in the table. Then look at the two numbers and choose
whether they seem almost the same or very different.
My fall times from 1.30 m
Fill in one row for each ball. Copy only the final time number shown by the lab, in seconds. Do not calculate.
| Ball | What is it like? | Fall time s |
|---|---|---|
Looking at your two numbers, what are the two fall times like?
4 · What did you discover?
5 min
Now use your table to decide what the data show. Notice whether the two times are almost the same or very different.
So, does being heavier make a ball reach the floor sooner?
In your notebook, draw the two balls falling from the same height. Then write one sentence here saying what you discovered. Use the data in your table.
You can start like this: "The heavy ball and the light ball..."