I did a projectile motion lab which involved two pennies beingdropped at the sam

Question

I did a projectile motion lab which involved two pennies beingdropped at the same time. One penny was dropped verticallydownwards, while the other penny was given an inital horizontalvelocity, followed by a projectile motion afterwards. Next I was to draw a ya vs. t and yb vs.t graph. The acceleration I calculated with the data is -4.54m/s2. I was to draw a yb vs.t2 graph and I also calculated-4.54m/s2 as the acceleration. I don't understand why the acceleration for both is
-4.54m/s2 and not -9.8m/s2. Pleaseexplain. I did a projectile motion lab which involved two pennies beingdropped at the same time. One penny was dropped verticallydownwards, while the other penny was given an inital horizontalvelocity, followed by a projectile motion afterwards. Next I was to draw a ya vs. t and yb vs.t graph. The acceleration I calculated with the data is -4.54m/s2. I was to draw a yb vs.t2 graph and I also calculated-4.54m/s2 as the acceleration. I don't understand why the acceleration for both is
-4.54m/s2 and not -9.8m/s2. Pleaseexplain.

Explanation / Answer

The acceleration of a body depends on the force you apply onit and its mass. It is independent of the state of motion like position orvelocity. Now, both the pennies have nearly identical masses. Also, if the applied force, like gravitational force is samefor both, both the bodies would have the same acceleration. Anyway, even if the masses are different, since gravitationalforce, Fg = GMm/r2 The acceleration would be same for both, since a = F/m is independent of the body. Thus you get same acceleration for both. The acceleration would be same for both, since a = F/m is independent of the body. Thus you get same acceleration for both.

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