Answer to Question #163351 in Physics for nevaeh

Question

 Why does a feather fall to the ground slower than a bowling ball?  Name all the forces acting upon both.

Answer 1

The forces acting upon ball and feather are the same: the force of gravity (downward) and the force of air resistance (upward). The gravity force does not depend on the type of the object. Thus, in vacuum, both of them would fall together simultaneously. But the the air resistance depends on the form, area, speed of the object. Those parameters are different for the feather and bowling ball, thus, their falling rate is different.