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

9057 Views

See similar Physics A Level tutors

Related Physics A Level answers

All answers ▸

Describe how emission spectra are formed and how they can be used to identify the elemental composition of a star.


Why are neutrinos hard to detect?


What is the difference between free vibrations and forced vibrations?


An ice cube with a small iron ball in its centre is placed in a cup of water. 3.9 x 10-3kg of water in the cup is displaced and the volume of the ice cube is 4.0 x 10-6m3. Ice density: 1000 kg m-3 Iron density: 7800 kg m-3, what is the volume of the iron?


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:

© 2025 by IXL Learning