Week 1 - Free Falling

Q1) Simulation of free falling body

The simulation of a free falling body is performed using the Altairs MotionView and the result is plotted is using the post processor Hypergraph.

Q2)

Mass and inertial poperties are not related to the rate of the fall. The three graphs plotted below are for the 1 kg, 5 kg and 10 kg mass. Three different free falling bodies have the same graph.

The height of the falling object can be calculated using the below formula:

h = ut + 0.5 at^2

From this formula, it is clear that height of the falling body is not related to the mass and the inertial properties of the falling body.

h = 0 m/s * 2 sec + 0.5 * (-9.81 m/s^2) * (2)^2

= - 19.62 m

The height of the falling body at a certain time is only dependent to the acceleration due to the gravity.

Q3)

Mass of an object affects the rate of the fall iff there is air (drag force).

The other factors that affect the rate of the fall are density of the fluid (air), cross sectional area of the falling object, and drag coefficient.