Can I hit the monkey JUST as it falls? 🐒🎯
When we shoot a ball at a monkey hanging from a tree, and the monkey lets go the moment we fire, both the ball and the monkey experience the same gravitational acceleration, causing them to fall at the same rate. If we aim directly at the monkey, the ball's initial velocity has both a horizontal and vertical component. As both the monkey and ball fall vertically due to gravity, their vertical positions remain aligned, ensuring that the ball will still hit the monkey, regardless of when it starts to fall. This illustrates how gravitational acceleration affects all objects equally, independent of their horizontal motion.
This demo was presented by Dr. Allison McGraw at Texas A&M University @tamu.
👍 LIKE and SUBSCRIBE for fun science content!
➡️ Follow links at linktr.ee/tamuphysastr
#tamu #DrAllison #monkeyandthehunter #learning #education