free fall

free fall
1. the hypothetical fall of a body such that the only force acting upon it is that of gravity.
2. the part of a parachute jump that precedes the opening of the parachute.
3. a decline, esp. a sudden or rapid decline, as in value or prestige, that appears to be endless or bottomless: The economy was in a free fall all winter.
Also, free-fall (for defs. 1, 2).
[1915-20]

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In mechanics, the state of a body that moves freely in any manner in the presence of gravity.

The planets are in free fall in the gravitational field of the Sun. A body in free fall follows an orbit such that the sum of gravitational and inertial forces equals zero. See also gravitation; Newton's laws of motion.

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Universalium. 2010.

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