How long does it take to fall 1.5m?

An object released from rest falls 1.5m in 0.55 seconds under Earth's gravity of 9.81 m/s². The formula is t = √(2h ÷ g), giving √(2 × 1.5 ÷ 9.81) = 0.553 seconds. That assumes it starts from rest — throwing it downward shortens the time, and air resistance has almost no effect over a drop this short.

How fast is something going after falling 1.5m?

It reaches 5.42 metres per second, which is 19.5 km/h or 12.1 mph. The formula is v = √(2gh) = √(2 × 9.81 × 1.5) = 5.425 m/s. You can check it a second way: the object gains 9.81 m/s every second, and it falls for 0.553 seconds, so 9.81 × 0.553 gives the same 5.425 m/s.

How far is 1.5m in feet?

1.5m is 4.92 feet, since one metre is exactly 3.280839895 feet. For a sense of scale, about chest height. The physics is identical whichever unit you use — the calculator above has an M ⇄ FT button that converts every figure on the page, including the distance markers on the drop tower.

Does a heavier object fall faster?

No. Mass cancels out of the free-fall equations entirely, so a bowling ball and a tennis ball released together from 1.5m land together. Both take 0.55 seconds. Gravity accelerates everything at the same rate regardless of weight. On Earth a feather is the exception only because air resistance affects it strongly — in a vacuum it falls exactly like the bowling ball.

Does air resistance matter over 1.5m?

Barely, for a dense compact object. Air resistance needs both speed and time to build up, and over 1.5m the object is only in the air for 0.55 seconds and never exceeds 5.42 m/s. A stone or a coin will match the ideal figures closely. Something light and large — a sheet of paper, a balloon — is a different matter, because drag becomes significant almost immediately.

How long would a 1.5m drop take on the Moon?

About 1.36 seconds, roughly 2.5 times longer than on Earth, because lunar gravity is 1.62 m/s² instead of 9.81. The impact speed drops too, to about 2.20 m/s. On Mars, at 3.72 m/s², the same drop takes around 0.90 seconds. Tap the planet buttons in the calculator above to see any of these instantly.

How far does the object fall in the first second?

It would cover 4.905 metres in a full second, but a 1.5m drop lasts only 0.55 seconds, so it lands before a second is up.

Why does doubling the height not double the fall time?

Because distance grows with the square of time, not in step with it. Rearranged, time depends on the square root of height, so you need four times the drop to double the fall time. Halving 1.5m does not halve the 0.55 seconds — it only cuts it by about 29 percent. The same square-root relationship applies to impact speed.

Free Fall from 1.5m

An object dropped from 1.5m takes 0.55 seconds to reach the ground and lands at 5.42 metres per second — that is 19.5 km/h, or 12.1 mph. This page has the full working, and the simulator above is preset to 1.5m so you can watch the drop happen, scrub through it moment by moment, and read the speed a...

THE DROP

HOW IT STARTS

DROP HEIGHT (m)

GRAVITY — 9.81 m/s²

DROP FROM

FALL TIME

0.55 s

IMPACT SPEED

5.4 m/s

That is 19.5 km/h · 12.1 mph

Drop height

1.50 m

Initial speed

0.00 m/s (rest)

Acceleration

9.81 m/s²

Time to peak

n/a

Speed after 1 s

5.42 m/s

Fallen in 1 s

1.50 m

FALL TIMELINE

TIME

FALLEN

SPEED

LEFT

0.09s

0.0m

0.9

1.5m

0.18s

0.2m

1.8

1.3m

0.28s

0.4m

2.7

1.1m

0.37s

0.7m

3.6

0.8m

0.46s

1.0m

4.5

0.5m

0.55s

1.5m

5.4

0.0m

STEPS

Released from rest, so the whole fall is driven by gravity alone: h = ½gt²

Rearranged: t = [−v₀ + √(v₀² + 2gh)] ÷ g = [-0.00 + √(0.00 + 29.43)] ÷ 9.81

Fall time: t = 0.5530 s

Impact speed: v = √(v₀² + 2gh) = √(29.43) = 5.4249 m/s

DROP SIMULATION

TIME

0.00 s

FALLEN

0.0 m

REMAINING

1.5 m

SPEED

0.0 m/s

Galileo's odd-number rule. Each bar is the distance covered in one equal slice of time. Released from rest the six bars grow as 1 : 3 : 5 : 7 : 9 : 11 — the odd numbers, which is the signature of constant acceleration and the pattern Galileo measured on inclined ramps four centuries ago. They sum to 36, or six squared, which is why the last slice alone covers almost a third of the whole drop.

SPEED vs TIME — straight line

DISTANCE vs TIME — curve

Speed climbs in a straight line — gravity adds 9.81 m/s every second. Distance curves upward, because it is the running total of an ever-growing speed.

THE SAME DROP ELSEWHERE

Earth

0.55s

Moon

1.36s

Mars

0.90s

Venus

0.58s

Jupiter

0.35s

Vacuum model. Gravity is the only force here — no air resistance. Real objects stop speeding up once drag balances their weight, and from tall drops the true impact speed is far lower than the ideal figure above.

Live simulation · drawn to scale · updates as you type

Created with❤️byeaglecalculator.com

HOW TO USE

1
The calculator above is already set to a 1.5m drop, released from rest under Earth's gravity, so the answer is on screen: 0.55 seconds to fall and 5.42 m/s at impact.
2
Press PLAY or REPLAY to watch the drop run, or drag the scrubber underneath to freeze any instant and read the time, distance fallen, height remaining and current speed at that exact moment.
3
Look at the bars beside the tower. Each one is the distance covered in one equal slice of time, and they grow steadily because the object is still accelerating all the way down — over 1.5m it never reaches a steady speed.
4
Change the drop height to compare any other distance, switch to Thrown down or Thrown up to add a starting speed, or tap Moon or Mars to see the same drop under different gravity.

THE FORMULAS

Distance fallenh = v₀t + ½gt²

From resth = ½gt²

Speed at time tv = v₀ + gt

Speed from heightv = √(v₀² + 2gh)

Fall timet = [−v₀ + √(v₀² + 2gh)] / g

Fall time from restt = √(2h / g)

Rise before fallingpeak = v₀² / (2g)

Earth gravityg ≈ 9.81 m/s²

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Last updated: July 29, 2026 · Formula verified · Eagle-eyed accuracy for every calculation.