Poojan Patel - Simulation of free fall of the body to see the effect of mass and inertia on the rate of the fall

Challenge :-

Stimulate a freefalling body in motion solve, Hyper Works.

Data :-

Mass of body = 1 kg

Inertia properties = 1 kgm2

Gravity in y-axis = 9.81 m/s2

Transient time = 2 sec

Units = Meter and kilogram

Answer :-

1)

Steps :-

• Change the units
• Assign gravity in Y-direction
• Create a point mass body
• Give mass and inertia to the body
• Run
• Plot the graph of the free fall

2)

Analytical results :-

Force is given by

F = ma = mg

Now, according to Newton’s law of universal gravitation

F = `GMm/r^2`

⸫ mg = `GMm/r^2`

⸫ g = `GM/r^2`

Therefore, we can say that acceleration due to the gravity of the body is independent of mass and inertia

Graphical results :-

Initial conditions :-

Mass = 1 kg

Inertia = 1 kgm2

Fig(1.1)

New conditions :-

Mass = 2 kg

Inertia = 2 kgm2

Fig(1.2)

As we can clearly see that the slope of the body does not change when we changed mass and inertia. Thus, it can be said that free fall due to gravity is independent of mass and inertia.

3)

The mass has no effect on the rate of fall, but the characteristic that actually affects the rate of fall is resistance due to air (friction due to air). Factors that affect air resistance are :-

• The surface roughness of the body
• Material
• Shape and Size
• etc.