Calculate fall time, impact speed and distance for an object dropped from rest.
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.
Free Fall
v = √(v₀² + 2 g h); t = (v − v₀) ÷ g
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.
These figures ignore air resistance, which becomes dominant beyond a few seconds of fall — at which point terminal velocity applies instead.
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.