Bing Quiz Archive
Earth's Gravity Quiz Archive
Earth's Gravity Quiz – Discover the Force That Keeps Us Grounded
Test your knowledge of Earth's gravity, free fall, mass and weight, gravitational acceleration, altitude, latitude, orbit, and the physics that keeps objects anchored to our planet.
Archive edition: This quiz was published for Tuesday, August 18, 2026, and remains available to play anytime.
🌍🍎🛰️ Earth's Gravity Quiz • 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds
🌍 Gravity Basics
⚖️ Mass & Weight
🍎 Free Fall
🛰️ Orbit & Altitude
⏱️ Time: 150s
✅ Answered: 0/10
This archived quiz keeps answer choices and their A–D labels randomized whenever the page loads. The 150-second timer begins after your first answer.
1
Approximately how fast does gravity accelerate a freely falling object near Earth's surface, ignoring air resistance?
Correct answer: 9.8 m/s². Near Earth's surface, a freely falling object accelerates downward at about 9.8 meters per second squared when air resistance is ignored.NASA's Glenn Research Center gives Earth's near-surface gravitational acceleration as about 9.8 m/s².
2
Near Earth's surface, in which direction does gravity pull an object?
Correct answer: Toward Earth's center. The gravitational pull we experience as “down” points approximately toward Earth's center of mass.NOAA explains that, on Earth, gravity pulls objects downward toward the center of the planet.
3
Which statement correctly describes mass and weight?
Correct answer: Mass is the amount of matter; weight depends on gravitational acceleration. An object's mass does not depend on location, while its weight is the gravitational force on that mass and can change when local gravity changes.NASA distinguishes mass from weight and notes that weight varies with gravitational acceleration.
4
According to Newton's law of universal gravitation, what happens to gravitational attraction when two objects move farther apart?
Correct answer: It becomes weaker. Gravitational attraction decreases as the distance between the centers of two masses increases; in Newton's law, the force follows an inverse-square relationship with distance.NOAA's geodesy materials explain that gravitational attraction is stronger for masses that are closer together.
5
What is the defined standard acceleration of gravity, often written as g₀ or gn?
Correct answer: 9.80665 m/s². The conventional standard acceleration of gravity is defined as exactly 9.80665 meters per second squared.NIST lists the standard acceleration of gravity as 9.80665 m/s² exactly.
6
All else equal, what generally happens to an object's weight as it moves to a much higher altitude above Earth?
Correct answer: It decreases slightly. As distance from Earth's center increases, gravitational acceleration decreases, so the same object's weight becomes smaller.NASA notes that weight decreases with altitude because gravitational acceleration depends on distance from Earth's center.
7
In a vacuum near Earth's surface, how do a hammer and a feather fall if released together from the same height?
Correct answer: They accelerate at the same rate. With air resistance removed, both objects are in free fall and experience the same gravitational acceleration near Earth's surface.NASA's free-fall materials describe gravitational acceleration as independent of an object's mass when gravity is the only external force considered.
8
Where is effective surface gravity generally slightly stronger: near Earth's poles or near the equator?
Correct answer: Near the poles. Effective gravity is slightly lower near the equator than near the poles because of Earth's rotation and its equatorial bulge.NOAA explains that gravity is less near the equator than at the poles.
9
Why can astronauts in an orbiting spacecraft appear weightless even though Earth's gravity is still acting on them?
Correct answer: They and the spacecraft are continuously falling around Earth together. Orbit is a form of continuous free fall: the spacecraft and its occupants fall toward Earth while moving sideways fast enough to keep missing the surface.NASA describes orbiting spacecraft and astronauts as being in continuous free fall under gravity.
10
Ignoring air resistance, about how fast would an object be moving after falling from rest for 2 seconds near Earth's surface?
Correct answer: 19.6 m/s downward. Starting from rest and using v = g × t, the speed after 2 seconds is approximately 9.8 × 2 = 19.6 m/s downward.NASA's free-fall equation gives velocity as gravitational acceleration multiplied by elapsed time for an object released from rest.
Reference sources:The facts and explanations for this August 18, 2026 Earth's Gravity Quiz archive can be cross-checked with educational and measurement resources including NASA Glenn: Motion of a Free-Falling Object, NASA Glenn: Free-Falling Objects, NASA Glenn: Weight Equation, NIST: Standard Acceleration of Gravity, NOAA: Gravity and Geodesy, and NOAA: Gravity Surveys.