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)

Responses

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

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.

1 answer

The correct response is:

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

This means that both pieces of paper, regardless of their shape, will fall at the same rate due to the Moon's gravitational pull, similar to how objects fall in a vacuum.