Rainfall caught speeding

Full story: Chicago Tribune

The hows and whys of rainfall have been pondered for about as long as human beings have walked upright, but now a team of researchers thinks it has discovered something everyone else missed: Some raindrops fall faster than they should.

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Not Stupid

Chicago, IL

Are you kidding me? Please tell me you are not a science reporter!

"That's because the speed ultimately reached by a raindrop (or any falling object) is directly related to its mass."

Uhhhh... no it's not.

Mass DOES NOT affect the speed something falls. The shape of the object and hence wind resistance does affect speed, but mass has nothing to do with this.

I learned this in 5th grade (seriously).

No wonder globabl warming has become such a big deal, if this is the level of science knowledge held by reporters and editors.

Really, really, pathetic.

Paul Rau

Chicago, IL

Although I am not a physicist, I don't think it is true that heavier things fall faster than light things, even without air resistance.

Hugh Webb

Glen Ellyn, IL

m1g=Gm1m2/r^2, so

g=Gm2/r^2 (gravitational acceleration)

In other words, gravity affects all masses the same as the m1s cancel out - all masses fall at the same rate.

The abstract of the article in question at http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2009/2008GL0...

talks about "A unique relation between raindrop size and fall speed is assumed throughout atmospheric science." However, the article doesnn't actually say mass alone is responsible for these differences. It talks about "speed versus size measurements"; other factors like air resistance presumably are the real cause of speed differences.

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