Paper Tray Experiment

Conclusion:

If you take a look at the graph you can see that the higher the mass the higher the average speed. This is because the air resistance is high compared to the mass. And air resistance only plays a role in the speed if it is high compared to the mass of the falling object.

If the mass reaches a certain point, so that the air resistance-mass ratio tilts to mass, then air resistance, and the mass doesn't play a role in the speed of the falling object anymore. Here is the theory to this:

When an object, where mass reached that point, gets dropped; Potential energy is present first. The formula for this is mass x gravity x height. As the object reaches the maximum speed, the potential energy is 0 and the kinetic energy is present. The formula for that is ½ x mass x speed squared.

That means that PE = KE. Mgh=1/2mvsquared

If you use algebra to solve this the mass cancels out, and we are left with v = square root of 2xgxh

This shows that mass doesn't play a role in speed of a falling object, when air resistance is irrelevant.

However the air resistance-mass ratio was not tilted towards mass, so air resistance did play a role. As the mass was still small the object travelled slower because of air resistance. And as the mass got greater, the less air resistance played a role; which is why the speed increased.

Air resistance works like this:

If an object falls through the air, its surface collides with air molecules. The amount of air resistance depends on two major factors: the speed and the leading surface area of the object.

And the higher the speed and area, the higher the surface area.