Free Fall Calculator

Calculate fall time, impact speed and distance for an object dropped from rest.

About Free Fall Calculator

Impact speed grows with the square root of height, so doubling the drop height increases speed by only about 40 per cent. Impact energy, however, scales directly with height. These figures ignore air resistance, which becomes dominant beyond a few seconds of fall — at which point terminal velocity applies instead.

Formula

Free Fall

v = √(v₀² + 2 g h); t = (v − v₀) ÷ g

g: Gravitational acceleration
h: Drop height

Worked example

With the default values below, Free Fall Calculator returns Time to Fall of 3.193. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Drop heightminimum 0 m: 50 m
Gravitational accelerationminimum 0.01 m/s2: 9.81 m/s2
Initial downward speedminimum 0 m/s: 0 m/s

Results

Time to Fall: 3.193 s
Impact Speed: 31.321 m/s
Impact Speed: 112.76 km/h
Distance Fallen in the First Second: 4.905 m
Impact Energy per Kilogram: 490.50 J/kg

Step by step

1Values used
2Free Fall
3Time to Fall= 3.193 s
4Impact Speed= 31.321 m/s
5Impact Speed= 112.76 km/h
6Distance Fallen in the First Second= 4.905 m
7Impact Energy per Kilogram= 490.50 J/kg

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 3 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
Figures are rounded for display to 3 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is Free Fall calculated?

v = √(v₀² + 2 g h); t = (v − v₀) ÷ g Impact speed grows with the square root of height, so doubling the drop height increases speed by only about 40 per cent. Impact energy, however, scales directly with height.

Why does Free Fall matter?

These figures ignore air resistance, which becomes dominant beyond a few seconds of fall — at which point terminal velocity applies instead.

What values do I need to enter?

This calculator takes 3 inputs: Drop height, Gravitational acceleration, Initial downward speed. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.