Suppose your mass is 75.0 kg. You step gently off the edge of a high diving plat

Question

Suppose your mass is 75.0 kg. You step gently off the edge of a high diving platform, so that you essentially start falling from rest toward the Earth. (Ignore air resistance.) During your freefall, which force has the greater magnitude? The magnitude of the gravitational force of the Earth on you the magnitude of the gravitational force of you on the Earth neither - they are equal During freefall, your downward acceleration will have the magnitude of 9.80 m/s^2. At the same time, what is the magnitude of the Earth's upward acceleration?

Explanation / Answer

Everything that has mass has gravity; put another way, everything that has mass attracts everything else that has mass. Mass is the amount of matter contained in an object; it's also what gives that object inertia, the tendency of matter to remain at rest if at rest, or, if moving, to keep moving in the same direction at the same speed. The greater an object's mass, the more gravitational force it exerts.

So, to begin answering your question, Earth has a greater gravitational pull than you simply because the Earth is more massive.

Earth's upward acceleration will be negligible with respect to you.

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