20. Which of the following is supported by the following data?
Answer: C
The time of fall is independent of the mass of the object.
The data indicates that objects A and B, both with a mass of 5.0g, fell for different durations (2.0 seconds and 1.0 second respectively), demonstrating that mass does not determine the time of fall. This supports the principle that in a vacuum, all objects fall at the same rate regardless of their mass.
A) Objects A and B will fall at the same rate.
This option is incorrect because, although both objects have the same mass, they fell for different durations. Object A took 2.0 seconds to fall, while Object B took only 1.0 second, showing that they do not fall at the same rate.
B) Air resistance is greater for A than for B.
This option is not supported by the data provided. While it could be inferred that air resistance might affect the fall time, the data does not provide sufficient evidence to conclude that air resistance is greater for A than for B. The time differences may be due to other factors unrelated to air resistance.
C) The time of fall is independent of the mass of the object.
This statement is correct as demonstrated by the data. Objects A and B have the same mass but different fall times, indicating that mass does not influence the time taken to fall under the conditions presented.
D) The greater the mass of an object, the faster it will fall.
This option is incorrect based on the provided data. While one might assume that a greater mass would lead to a faster fall, the comparison of objects A and B, which have the same mass but different fall times, contradicts this notion.
Conclusion
The correct answer, C, is supported by the observation that the time of fall does not correlate with the mass of the objects tested. The other options either misinterpret the data or provide incorrect conclusions about the relationship between mass and fall time, reinforcing the principle that mass does not affect fall rate in the absence of significant air resistance.