Why does a feather fall at the same rate as a hammer on the Moon?

To calculate an object's weight, we have weight = mass * gravitational field strength (W = mg). From this, we see that an object with a greater mass (e.g. a hammer compared with a feather) has a greater weight, and since weight is the force that causes falling, we might expect that it will fall faster.
However, this does not happen. If we want to work out the acceleration of an object, we use Newton's second law, force = mass * acceleration (F = ma). Since weight is the force acting on the hammer or feather, we can equate our expression for the weight, mg, to ma:
ma = mg
We can then divide both sides of this equation by m, yielding
a = g
And therefore, the acceleration a doesn't depend on m, the object's mass. For this reason, a hammer and a feather will fall with the same acceleration on the Moon, as long as there are no other forces.

JT
Answered by Joel T. Physics tutor

9463 Views

See similar Physics A Level tutors

Related Physics A Level answers

All answers ▸

Why is it important that the baryon and lepton numbers of an interaction are conserved?


Show that gravitational force within a nuclei is negilible compared with the electric repulsion.


What is the difference between free vibrations and forced vibrations?


A projectile is launched from the ground at a speed of 40ms^-1 at an angle of 30 degrees to the horizontal, where does it land? What is the highest point the projectile reaches?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2026 by IXL Learning