Quote:
Originally Posted by euromodder
In vacuum 
IRL, the rate of fall is determined by mass, shape & volume (body density and aero drag), the length of the fall and air density.
If you don't believe that, don't go sky jumping 
That's why it took until Galileo for people to realise the concept.
There's no real need to try it.
Gravity usually exceeds rolling resistance.
The main thing you might need to overcome is inertia, i.e. getting the car rolling - which takes the most force.
Once rolling, the heavier car will accelerate away from the lighter one. |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vman455
...in the case of two cars, with identical Cd and frontal area but different masses...
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I'll rephrase my question: is there a point at which the inertia of a more massive body overcomes the increased rolling resistance of that body such that it will roll downhill faster than an aerodynamically-identical, less massive body? I see people all the time claiming that a heavy car will roll downhill faster than a lighter, but I've never seen any evidence to suggest this is so.