Free Fall Calculator

Calculate free fall motion

Free fall is the motion of an object under the influence of gravity alone, with air resistance ignored. Starting from rest, the velocity after a given time equals the gravitational acceleration times the time, and the distance fallen equals one half of gravity times the time squared. This calculator computes both from the time of fall. After three seconds on Earth, an object reaches about 29.4 metres per second and has fallen about 44 metres. The velocity is also shown in kilometres per hour.

Every object falls at the same rate in free fall regardless of its mass, a famous result demonstrated by dropping objects in a vacuum.

Falling under gravity

Free-fall equations are a staple of introductory physics and apply to dropped objects, falling raindrops before they reach terminal velocity, and the early motion of projectiles. The constant acceleration due to gravity, about 9.81 metres per second squared on Earth, makes the motion predictable. Because velocity grows steadily and distance grows with the square of time, a falling object covers much more ground in later seconds than early ones.

In reality air resistance limits the speed of real falling objects to a terminal velocity, so these idealised results apply best to dense objects over short falls or in a vacuum. All calculation happens locally in your browser.

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