Question

What happens to distance and velocity if the time to fall increases or decreases?

Answer 1

In free-fall motion the velocity is given by the following equation of motion:

$v=v_0-gt$

Where:

$\begin{gathered} v=\text{ velocity} \\ g=\text{ acceleration of gravity} \\ t=\text{ time} \end{gathered}$

Therefore, the velocity increases linearly with time. This happens if the object encounters no air resistance. In the case that there is air resistance the object will reach a terminal velocity.

In the case of distance, this is given by the following equation:

$s=v_0t-\frac{1}{2}gt^2_{}$

This means that the distance increases with time following a parabolic function.