Falling Speeds: Read the Gaps

Use equal-time pictures to notice a change in speed.

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These pictures use equal time steps. A bigger gap between positions means more distance traveled in the same time, so the object is moving faster. The picture is an ideal no-air model.

Worked example

The gap from Picture 3 to Picture 4 is larger than the gap from Picture 1 to Picture 2. Because the time steps match, the later motion is faster.

The same falling object appears at four equally spaced times. Its downward gaps increase, showing increasing speed in this ideal no-air model.

Would you believe it?

Still pictures can reveal changing speed. When snapshots are equally spaced in time, larger gaps between positions mean more distance traveled during each time step.

OpenStax: motion with constant acceleration

Question 1 Which pair has the largest gap? Pictures 1 and 2 All gaps are equal Pictures 3 and 4

Question 2 What stays equal between each pair of pictures? The height above the floor The time step The gap size

Question 3 What does a growing gap at equal time steps suggest? Increasing speed Decreasing speed The ball has stopped

Question 4 Could unequal picture times make gap comparisons misleading? No, time never matters Only if the ball changes color Yes

Question 5 Does this picture prove every object in air falls this way? Yes, shape never matters No, air and shape can change the motion Yes, all falls are identical

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