Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Miss

Satisfactory Essays
380 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Miss
Falling objects increase their speed as they fall, because their weight (the force of gravity) pulls them to Earth. They also experience an upward force called air resistance (drag), which slows them down.
Objects fall faster until they reach their terminal speed, which is reached when the upward (air resistance) and downward (weight) forces are equal.
Falling objects
When an object is dropped it gets faster and faster as it falls. This happens because their weight (the force of gravity) pulls them down towards the centre of the Earth.
As they fall through the air, they also experience an upward force called air resistance (drag).

RAF parachutist
Objects with large surface areas, such as parachutes or shuttlecocks fall more slowly because they experience more air resistance.
Frictional forces such as air resistance, friction and drag act against the direction of motion, so tend to slow the object down.
This fact is put to good use in the design of the parachute and shuttlecock.
The size of frictional forces can be reduced bystreamlining the object or lubricating any moving parts.
Reducing frictional force
Examples of reducing frictional force by streamlining include: * A sports car is wedge-shaped to reduce air resistance and so increase top speed. * Lorries and caravans have deflectors to reduce both air resistance and fuel consumption. * A car with a roof box has increased air resistance and fuel consumption and a lower top speed. * A downhill skier puts wax on the skis to reduce friction and so increase the top speed.
Terminal speed
When objects fall through the Earth's atmosphere they get faster and faster until they reach a speed where the upwards force (air resistance) and downwards force (weight) equal each other. At this point the object travels at its fastest speed called terminal speed.
What happens when you drop a coin and small feather at the same time?
They both have a similar surface area but the feather weighs less so has a smaller force of gravity pulling it down.
As the feather falls its upwards air resistance increases and soon equals its downwards weight, so it then travels at terminal speed. The coin is heavier and has to be travelling a lot faster before its air resistance is large enough to equal its weight.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    1122

    • 572 Words
    • 3 Pages

    What forces were acting on the objects dropped in the air? What force was acting on the objects dropped in the vacuum? (the force that was acting on the objects that dropped in the air was friction. The force that was acting on the object when it dropped in the vacuum was friction also.)…

    • 572 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The drag force of an object is influenced by size, shape surface area and velocity of the object. The force of drag is…

    • 1010 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Air resistance affects the falling of a parachute because the resistance in the air molecules slow down the falling of the parachute. If there were no air resistance then the gravity would pull the parachute toward earth and it will drop very fast.…

    • 299 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Terminal Velocity

    • 385 Words
    • 2 Pages

    When the man falls from the 10 story high building and splats to the ground this is because of his fall. When he falls due to the weight of him he falls quicker and gravity has a stronger force on him and air resistance doesn’t and in reality he may not even reach the terminal velocity or he may reach it near to the ground and hence he is accelerating at a high rate off the building making him splat on the floor.…

    • 385 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Rides and Rollercoasters

    • 295 Words
    • 2 Pages

    For example, how high must an object be dropped so that is reaches 30 m/s? (g = 10 N/kg)…

    • 295 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    parachute-The speed at which a body falls depends on two factors: the force of the gravity pulling it downward and the resistance of the atmosphere through which it is falling. If there were no atmosphere, a falling body would simply accelerate to higher and higher speeds until it hit a surface, but air tends to slow it down until it reaches its so-called terminal velocity. Different objects have different terminal velocities. The terminal velocity of a human being falling through the earth's atmosphere -- a skydiver with an unopened chute, for instance -- is about 120 mph (193.1 kilometers per hour). That's surprisingly slow, but still fast enough that a person falling from an airplane would make a pretty big splat upon hitting the ground. The idea of a parachute is to reduce a person's terminal velocity and make a long…

    • 428 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    As seen above, gravity is a force affecting 2 bodies. This is not totally exact because it does not factor in air resistance and friction. Even though gravitational acceleration is constant, air resistance affects free fall. For instance, if you took a sky diver and a ball of lead that weighed the same, and dropped them from an airplane at the same time, the sky diver could spread his arms, which would cause resistance and slow his fall. The lead ball would reach the ground first. If the skydiver streamlined himself and dove…

    • 1132 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Is motion with no acceleration other than that provided by gravity, and no deceleration other than that caused by the aerodynamic drag of the object (hence the term also applies for moving up). In skydiving, the term is also applied to the period of the jump before the parachute is opened, and in colloquial usage, falling through an atmosphere is normally considered to be free fall.…

    • 2929 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Flight in Chordate

    • 5192 Words
    • 21 Pages

    Falling: decreasing altitude under the force of gravity, using no adaptations to increase drag or provide lift.…

    • 5192 Words
    • 21 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Toy Car Physics

    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages

    If you put a toy car on a downhill slope it will begin to roll because of gravity. The more the car weighs will affect how fast and how far the car will roll Gravity is the force where two objects pull towards each other. Everything has a gravitational pull. That is why things fall. Earth’s gravitational pull is pulling us and all objects towards it.…

    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Free fall (physics)

    • 777 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The term "free fall" is often used more loosely than in the strict sense defined above. Thus, falling through an atmosphere without a deployed parachute, or lifting device, is also often referred to as free fall. The aerodynamic drag forces in such situations prevent them from producing full weightlessness, and thus a skydiver's "free fall" after reaching terminal velocity produces the sensation of the body's weight being supported on a cushion of air.…

    • 777 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Friction reasearch paper

    • 282 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Friction – It is an opposing force that acts between surfaces in contact moving with respect…

    • 282 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Forces Friction

    • 868 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Though there are many different types of forces but I have chosen to talk to you about friction. Friction is the force between two objects in contact with each other, making it a contact force. It causes moving objects to slow down. Air resistance is a type of friction.…

    • 868 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Evil or God

    • 568 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Gravity and friction are two forces that work together to allow life as we know it on earth. They are balanced forces. There is no movement without first overcoming friction, which is why a heavier object falls faster due to gravity than a lighter object. A heavy object is not resisted by air friction, while a very light object is (which causes it to fall more slowly).…

    • 568 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    ii) If a body is dropped from a certain height, its velocity increases due to __________.…

    • 741 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays