Mass changes and balloon poping

[Spud Nick]

If a ship with a large mass gets it's balloon popped will it drop to the ground faster?

[Sammy B. T.]

I thought mass didn't effect gravitational acceleration.

[Captain Smollett]

Well, not sure about the game since 1.2 but while it's true that gravitational acceleration is equivalent for objects at similar distances from the earth, in real world physics density will affect terminal velocity for an object on account of wind resistance. Imagine the difference in speed of a coin approaching the ground after being tossed and a feather floating down after being dropped from a similar distance.   

[HamsterIV]

Terminal velocity is determined be drag and mass, so long as the galleon scales up its surface area in proportion to its mass it should fall at the same rate as a squid. The spire should fall like a dart though. I also suspect there is still lift gas in the balloon, but not enough of it to keep the ship aloft.

[Sgt. Spoon]

If a ship with a large mass gets it's balloon popped will it drop to the ground faster?

Since the lighter ships are able to rise and sink faster than the heavier, shouldn't it be the other way? I honestly don't know.

[Shinkurex]

In a vacuum, which would hit the ground first, a feather or a bowling ball?

[Sgt. Spoon]

In a vacuum, which would hit the ground first, a feather or a bowling ball?

yeah but we're not in vacuum are we

[Shinkurex]

this is true... that then gives you the topic of air resistance.... A squid is smaller, so it's lighter, but there is not a lot of surface area... in a galleon, you have a large amount of surface area, although it's heavier.... in the end, all things fall at the same rate (~10 m/s squared if I remember physics(If im wrong, I'm sorry ))....

[HamsterIV]

Since the lighter ships are able to rise and sink faster than the heavier, shouldn't it be the other way? I honestly don't know.

Maybe rising and sinking is done by heating or cooling the gass in the baloon, or by changing the air helium mixture. Either way it can be done faster if there is less gas total to work on. Hence ships with smaller balloons can accelerate faster in the vertical.

[Sgt. Spoon]

Since the lighter ships are able to rise and sink faster than the heavier, shouldn't it be the other way? I honestly don't know.

Maybe rising and sinking is done by heating or cooling the gass in the baloon, or by changing the air helium mixture. Either way it can be done faster if there is less gas total to work on. Hence ships with smaller balloons can accelerate faster in the vertical.

True, but when I said that I was more thinking about the gameplay aspect instead of the realism aspect. That be; if the ligher ships are "programmed" to be able to accelerate faster in the vertical direction, maybe that will apply when the balloon is popped and they're falling as well.

If it were real life, the heavier ships would be falling faster.

[Phores]

Actually for the controlled rise mass is directly a factor, the lift doesnt scale with it so F=MA ==> F/M=A Less mass (smaller ship) means more responsive. In a freefall you are generally looking at a flat 9.8 m/s^2 before air resistance. Given the size factors in lighter than air, air resistance is significant so you'd probably see the falling speed end up with squid and junker being slower while the spire would be a javelin (others are awkward to say too much on considering how they were deisgned for aesthetic not physics )

Also main reason for replying:
 Shinkurex have you ever tried the variant "dropping" experiment? It irks many.
 Try dropping a moon and a feather towards a bowling ball in a vaccum, my earnings for this year say your argument falls apart when you use extremely different masses