Comment on your mom falls significantly faster than g

FuglyDuck@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

• BB84@mander.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  A feather has smaller surface area than a bowling ball. But drag acceleration is proportional to the surface area divided by the mass (and this quantity is indeed smaller for the bowling ball).

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  • aberrate_junior_beatnik@midwest.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    A feather has smaller surface area than a bowling ball.

    Depends on the feather and the bowling ball. Even relatively small (by volume) feathers might outdo a bowling ball thanks to the numerous fine shapes they have.

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    • BB84@mander.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

      I meant cross-section area, not surface area. Sorry. Edited my comment above.

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      • aberrate_junior_beatnik@midwest.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

        An average bowling ball is 8.5 inches in diameter, giving it a cross sectional surface area of roughly 60 sq in. Restricting ourselves to feathers made by non-human animals, the longest feather measured was on a Yokohama chicken at 34 feet / 400+ inches. I can’t find the width of the feather, but it’s still likely it outdoes an average bowling ball.

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