Dropped off of an airplane, into a wall.

[CORed]

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I believe acceleration slows as falling speed increases. This might have an effect here? But then again, maybe not on such a short fall.

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In a vacuum, the acceleration of a falling object is constant. In atmosphere, wind resistance will eventually reduce the acceleration to zero. When this happens, the falling object is at terminal velocity. Wind resistance will also slow the forward speed of the object.

[Siegmund]

Depends on the object and the airplane -- but probably B, unless it's an extremely dense and streamlined object and an extremely slow-moving airplane.

Terminal velocity of a person, for instance, is 120mph. He will be slowing down from the instant he exits a typical airplane onward. (Accelerating downward, but losing more forward speed than he is gaining downward.)

EDIT TO ADD:

Looking at it another way -- if the ground is perfectly horizontal and the wall is perfectly vertical... the object strikes the ground at a similar speed after accelerating downward for 500 feet in both cases, *in addition to which* object B slams sideways into something.

[DavidC]

Thanks man. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]