What is terminal velocity?
Do different objects have different ‘terminal velocity’ speeds, or is it based on gravity/friction? Asked by: Henry Young Answer As an object moves through a fluid, such as a liquid or gas there exists a drag force that acts to impede the motion. This drag force not only acts in the direction opposite to the motion but also depends on the square of the speed of the object. The fact that the drag force increases with speed has an important consequence. Consider a falling body. It is acted on by gravity and a drag force due to the air. When the body begins to fall the speed is slow and thus its drag force is also small. The acceleration of the falling body is g. As the body’s speed increases so too does the drag and at some point the speed would increase tot he point where the drag force would act to cancel out the force due to gravity. Thus the body no longer accelerates and the speed remains constant. Different objects would have different terminal speeds. The terminal velocity is not
The terminal velocity is the constant speed attained by a body while falling through a fluid (liquid or gas). “A free falling object achieves its terminal velocity when the downward force of gravity (Fg)equals the upward force of drag (Fd). This causes the net force on the object to be zero, resulting in an acceleration of zero. Mathematically an object asymptotically approaches and can never reach its terminal velocity. As the object accelerates (usually downwards due to gravity), the drag force acting on the object increases. At a particular speed, the drag force produced will equal the object’s weight (mg). Eventually, it plummets at a constant speed called terminal velocity (also called settling velocity). Terminal velocity varies directly with the ratio of drag to weight. More drag means a lower terminal velocity, while increased weight means a higher terminal velocity. An object moving downward with greater than terminal velocity (for example because it was affected by a downward
