If I drop (a) a normal house brick and (b) one the same size made of paper, from a diving board, which will hit the water first? If you haven’t studied physics recently, the instinctive response for most people is that the house brick, being heavier, will fall faster. In fact this is not the case. The force of gravity accelerates both objects at the same rate and, because air resistance, not mass, makes the crucial difference, both will both hit the water at much the same time. You still don’t believe me? What would convince you? Maybe if you saw it with your own eyes?
According to tradition, Galileo performed just such a live demonstration ...
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