Penny and Feather Drop

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Penny and Feather Drop

A penny and a feather in a tube that can have the air pumped out of it creating a vacuum tube.

PIRA 1C20.10

Materials: Feather, Penny, Vaccuum Pump, Container for Vaccuum Pump

This demo shows that, when not affected by air resistance, a "light" object (the feather) falls at the same rate as a "heavy" object (the penny). Shake the penny and feather to one end of tube. The tube is filled with air. Quickly bring the tube to a vertical position and watch the objects fall. Connect the tube to the pump. It takes a few minutes to pump air out of the tube. Close valve and disconnect from pump and repeat as with air.