Hey Stan,
Galileo discovered that gravity affects every object exactly, with the same force within the same system. He supposedly dropped a piece of fruit and some metal object from the tower in Pisa, Italy in the 1400s. Weight is not a factor. A feather will fall at the same velocity as an anvil within the same gravitational field, the earth for example or the moon with only 1/6 the gravity of the earth. As long as you drop or let them accelerate in the same place or system, they will hit the ground at exactly the same time. The feather will be slower only because of the resistance of the air (atmosphere) on earth. We do not live in a vacuum, and the aerodynamics slow the feather. One of the astronauts did this experiment with a hammer and a feather, on the moon, which has no atmosphere. He dropped from them at exactly the same height, and they hit at the surface at exactly the same time. So long way to answer, but the weight of any object has no bearing on gravity.
One more non instinctive fact is: If you hold a gun exactly horizontally parallel to the ground and fire a bullet and drop another bullet from the same height at exactly the same time, they will hit the ground at exactly the same moment. The distance, the fired bullet travels from the gun has no effect on gravity reacting on both bullets. They hit the ground at exactly the same instant.
I hope no one thinks I am a know it all. I just remember a few physics classes a long time ago. This counter intuitive fact is very hard to wrap your head around. It seems it should be that gravity is stronger on heavier objects, ain't so. Only the aerodynamics.
jr
