Steve Belgeri, age 13, of Bridgeton, Missouri, for his question:

How fast does rain fall?

The earth's gravity dictates a precise ratio for the speed of falling objects. According to this, every falling body    large or small, light or heavy    is supposed to accelerate at 32 feet per second per second. This means a drop of 32 feet in the first second, 64 feet in the second of falling time and an extra 32 feet added to the speed each second until the object bashes the ground. However, several factors slow down this ratio, especially for small bodies such as falling raindrops:

In this case, the major anti gravity force is the atmosphere. For example, the rising updraft of light air under a large thunderhead can hold aloft tons of liquid moisture in the cloud. It also can reduce the velocity of the falling raindrops. The downward plunge breaks larger drops to sizes of about 0.2 inches in width. Their speed is reduced by wafting currents, bashing air molecules and dusty debris. As a rule the falling speed of raindrops is limited to about 18 miles an hour, even when they began accelerating several miles above the ground.