Ripley's Believe It or Not by Ripley’s Believe It or Not! for April 16, 2014
April 15, 2014
April 17, 2014
Transcript:
Ripley's Believe It or Not! Finland is the world's coffee drinking capital, with adults drinking an average of 4 cups of coffee per day -- that's 3 times more than Americans drink! In 1971, Apollo 15 astronaut David Scott proved that a hammer and feather dropped on the moon will both fall at the same rate, due to lack of air. The spine of the x-ray tetra fish is visible through its transparent skin!
More From Ripley's Believe It or Not
Not quite— what Galileo proved is that objects of different weights fall at the same speed (usually using spheres). On earth, a feather does fall slower than a hammer (try it!) not because of weight difference, but because of air resistance. The feather catches the air as it tumbles down, a hammer doesn’t. But on the moon, there isn’t enough air for the feather to catch, making them fall at the same rate.