The equivalence principle in physics simply explained

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If you drop a plastic ball and a lead ball from a high-rise building at the same time, it makes sense that the heavy metal ball should reach the bottom first, right? To answer this question, you have to deal with the principle of equivalence. In physics, this deals with the relationship between gravity and inertia of a mass.

The equivalence principle has to do with acceleration.

These are the statements of the equivalence principle

The principle of equivalence goes back to Galileo Galilei, who had found experimentally that Bodies accelerate the same regardless of their mass in free fall, i.e. the same speed fall. In theory, therefore, it makes no difference whether you throw a dumbbell or a table tennis ball from a high building; in theory, both should hit the bottom at the same time. In practice, however, there are still falsifying factors such as air resistance, and quite apart from that, you should never throw objects off buildings. You could hurt other people.
The basic statement of the equivalence principle is that the inert and heavy mass of a body are the same, i.e. equivalent. The heavy mass is based on weight, i.e. (with us) the gravitational pull, the inert mass is the resistance that a force has to overcome in order to move the body.
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The principle is also found in Newton's second axiom, which is also referred to as the principle of action. It says that the more massive a body is, the more energy must be expended to move it. This additional expenditure of energy required corresponds exactly to the additional attraction that the earth and a heavy body exert on one another. So they balance each other out.

The principle is expanded in modern physics

In the physics one also speaks of a strong equivalence principle. This is particularly important for Einstein's theory of relativity. Here it is assumed that it is in a hypothetical space that does not interact with its environment is subject, no reliable statement can be made as to whether a body is in weightlessness or in free fall is located.
According to the statement made, a hypothetical homogeneous gravitational field would correspond to a uniform acceleration in an uncurved space-time. Experimental physics has not yet succeeded in refuting this theory.