A cork, say from a wine bottle, is held by a robotic clamp at the bottom of a bucket of water and released the moment the bucket is dropped off the side of a tall building. What will happen to the cork during the fall? Will it float to the top of the bucket normally, slower than normal, faster than normal, or not at all?

Assume that there is no air resistance to slow the bucket down.

If wind resistance is not present to slow their fall, two objects of different mass and/or density will fall at the same rate. This is true whether the cork is surrounded by the water or simply next to the water. Therefore the cork will not float as long as the bucket is falling with acceleration = g.

Posted by Bryan on 2003-03-26 07:05:23