Gravity Lab
Name ________________________________
6th Grade PSI Science
Score: ______________ / 6
Purpose
Standing on a balcony near the top of the 179-foot tall Tower of Pisa, a young scientist
dropped two iron balls into the crowd below. The scientist, young Galileo, was not trying
to knock his fellow professors on the head, but was trying to prove his theory that all
objects fall to earth at the same rate, regardless of their mass. In this experiment, you
will repeat Galileo's experiment from the top of a ladder. Look out below!
Objective
The goal of this project is to repeat Galileo's famous experiment to answer the question:
do heavier objects fall faster than lighter ones?
Introduction
In 1589, a young scientist and mathematician named Galileo Galilei conducted a simple
experiment. Galileo dropped two iron balls of different masses from great height to see
which ball hit the ground first. This experiment challenged a 2000 year-old idea
proposed by the philosopher Aristotle who believed that heavier objects fall faster than
lighter objects. Aristotle thought that a ball that was 10 times as heavy as another ball
would fall 10 times as fast. Neither Aristotle nor anyone else had ever tested to see if
his idea was correct.
Materials
Two balls of the same volume, but different mass
Hypothesis
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www.njctl.org
6th Grade PSI
The Universe and Its Stars
Procedure
1) Climb the stairs and prepare to drop both balls from the same height at the same
time. Make sure that the balls are able to land on a flat surface.
2) Drop the balls and record the results in a data table by checking off which ball hit
first.
Did one ball hit the ground before the other? Did they hit at the same time?
3) For any experiment, it is important to do multiple trials to assure that your results
are consistent. Repeat the experiment at least ten times, and record your results.
Data
Trial #
Heavy Ball
Light Ball
Same Time
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Conclusion
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www.njctl.org
6th Grade PSI
The Universe and Its Stars