Acceleration Near Earth's Surface Date: Name: When an object is allowed to fall freely it experiences acceleration due to gravity. Acceleration due to gravity is used frequently by physicists, so it is given its own symbol, g. The value of g changes slightly around the world, but on average g = 9.8 m/$2. When used as a vector, you could write g = 9.8 2 [down] or g = -9.82 if down is defined to be the negative direction. The value for g cannot be used at very high altitudes or on different planets - it is a unique value for the acceleration due to gravity near Earth's surface. This value for g is true for an object of any mass when the object does not experience any air resistance or other force. For our purposes, we will assume there is no air resistance - that any object falling is essentially falling in a vacuum. Example 1: A cat knocks a flowerpot off a ledge. The flowerpot hits the ground 2.7 s later. How high above the ground is the ledge? Michele Brosseoo, Mm Bros paula