If two stones of 150 gm and 500 gm are dropped from a height, which stone will reach the surface of earth first and why ? Explain your answer

Both stones will reach the surface of the earth at the same time. This is due to the principle of free fall, which states that all objects fall at the same rate, regardless of their mass. This principle was famously demonstrated by Galileo, who dropped two spheres of different masses from the Leaning Tower of Pisa to show that they hit the ground at the same time.

Here's a step-by-step explanation:

1. When an object is dropped from a height, it is acted upon by gravity alone (ignoring air resistance). The force of gravity pulls it towards the earth.

2. According to Newton's second law of motion, the force acting on an object is equal to its mass times its acceleration (F=ma). In this case, the force is gravity, the mass is the mass of the stone, and the acceleration is the acceleration due to gravity.

3. The acceleration due to gravity is approximately 9.8 m/s^2 on the surface of the earth. This is a constant value, meaning it does not change based on the mass of the object.

4. Therefore, when you drop the stones, they both experience the same acceleration (9.8 m/s^2). This means they will both fall at the same rate and hit the ground at the same time, regardless of their different masses.

5. The only factor that could potentially affect this is air resistance. However, for small objects like stones, and over relatively short distances, air resistance is negligible and can be ignored.

So, in conclusion, both the 150 gm stone and the 500 gm stone will reach the surface of the earth at the same time when dropped from the same height.