An astronaut drops two pieces of paper from the door of a lunar landing module. One piece of paper is crumpled, and the other piece is folded into an airplane. Why do the two pieces of paper land on the Moon’s surface at the same time?(1 point)

Question

Responses

The Moon’s gravity is much weaker than Earth’s.
The Moon’s gravity is much weaker than Earth’s.

The pieces of paper were not dropped from a sufficient height for air resistance to affect their falls.
The pieces of paper were not dropped from a sufficient height for air resistance to affect their falls.

The mass of the paper folded into an airplane must be greater than the mass of the crumpled paper.
The mass of the paper folded into an airplane must be greater than the mass of the crumpled paper.

The Moon has practically no atmosphere, so there is no air resistance.

Answer 1

The correct response is: The Moon has practically no atmosphere, so there is no air resistance.

On the Moon, the lack of atmosphere means that there is no air resistance to affect the fall of the two pieces of paper. Therefore, both will fall at the same rate regardless of their shape.