So what I have gathered is, when multiplying the mass of a BasePart by gravity, example:
local part = workspace.Part
print(part.Mass * workspace.Gravity)
it gets the total amount of downward force applied to a BasePart. However, when I get a much bigger part (having a larger force being applied to it) and put it next to a much smaller part (having a smaller force being applied to it) and drop them next to each other 1000 or so studs high in the air, they both hit the ground at the same time.
Wouldn’t the bigger part hit the ground first?
According to irl physics parts of different sizes would hit the ground at the same time, and the larger part with greater force applied to it would only fall at the same rate because the size compensates for the force applied… Assuming you made a script that actually changes the acceleration of the parts based on their mass, you would need to give different parts higher density in order for the gravity to work.
Sorry if I’m being a bit confusing here.
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Just to clarify, was I correct in saying that multiplying mass by gravity gets the downward force applied to a BasePart?
I’m sorry, but I don’t know much about Roblox physics. Although that equation is correct for real life physics.
F = ma is one of the most important equations in physics, Force = Mass * Acceleration.
From the Gravity devhub article:
[workspace.Gravity] Determines the acceleration due to gravity applied to falling BaseParts. This value is measured in studs per second squared and by default is set to 196.2 studs/second^2. By changing this value, developers can simulate the effects of lower or higher gravity in game.
So yes, multiplying the mass by workspace.Gravity will give you resulting force being applied on the part due to gravity. However, as @iusdorganization said, in real life objects of different masses will fall at the same rate (ignoring air resistance). Roblox’s physics engine is meant to simulate real life gravity, but just does so in different units (studs/seconds^2).
The reason why two different objects of different masses will hit the ground at the same time in both roblox and real life is because they’re undergoing the same acceleration, or change in their velocity. The higher massed object just has more force because of F=ma, more mass means more force. But acceleration will always stay constant at 196.2 studs/second^2 unless you set that value to something else.
There’s a now famous experiment (that may or may not have happened) by Galileo in the late 1500’s. From a wikipedia article on the experiment:
the Italian scientist Galileo Galilei is said to have dropped two spheres of different masses from the Leaning Tower of Pisa ... According to the story, Galileo discovered through this experiment that the objects fell with the same acceleration, proving his prediction true, while at the same time disproving Aristotle's theory of gravity (which states that objects fall at speed proportional to their mass).
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