Question

What is free falling?

Answer 1

In Newtonian physics, free fall is defined as the motion of an object where gravity is the only force acting upon it. By this definition then, a skydiver is never in true free fall, even before they deploy their parachute. A skydiver may be pulled towards earth by gravity, but they are also affected by air resistance, a force opposing their downward movement. For this reason it doesn’t match the strict definition of a free fall.
Well, what is free falling, you ask? By the Newtonian definition, the moon itself is in free fall! Because the gravity of earth is the only force acting upon the moon.