Here’s a physics classic. Suppose you drop a golf ball and a bowling ball from the Empire State Building. Which hits first? Answer? They hit at the same time. You could also have used a marble and a piano and a banana, or any two objects for which air resistance won’t be a big factor. The idea is that everything falls at the same rate, no matter what its mass is. A lot of folks have trouble believing this. It just doesn’t seem right. Oftentimes we say, But a bowling ball weighs more than a golf ball — doesn’t that mean gravity is pulling on it more? Well, there’s a distinction to be made here. The bowling ball has a greater mass, so there’s more stuff for gravity to act on. In that sense, gravity is pulling on it more. But it still doesn’t fall any faster.

这是一个物理学的经典：设想你从帝国大厦上同时丢下一个高尔夫球和一个保龄球。那个先着地？答案？它们同时着地。你也可以换成弹子，钢琴或是香蕉，或任意2个受空气阻力影响不大的物体。任何物体都会以相同的速度落地，无论质量多大。许多人不太相信这个规律。这个规律只是看起来不对。我们经常会说但是保龄球要比高尔夫球重很多——那并不表明重力会更多作用于较重的物体吗？这里要说明下区别。保龄球的质量更大，所以引力作用的面积会更多。那样的话，引力会更大，但是物体落下的速度并没有变快。

classic n. 杰作
marble n.弹子
facto n.因素
distinction n.区别