Terminal Velocity

Terminal Velocity
D. Crowley, 2008
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Terminal Velocity
 To understand terminal velocity
Terminal Velocity
 What are the forces on a skydiver? How do these forces change
(think about when they first jump out; during free fall; and when the
parachute has opened)?
 What happens if the skydiver changes their position?
 The skydiver’s force (W=mg) remains

the same throughout the jump
 But their air resistance changes

depending upon what they’re doing
which changes the overall resultant
force
Skydiving
 Falling objects are subject to the force of gravity pulling them down
– this can be calculated by W=mg
Weight (N) = mass (kg) x gravity (N/kg)
 On Earth the strength of gravity = 10N/kg

 On the Moon the strength of gravity is just 1.6N/kg
Positional
 What happens when you change position during free-fall?
 Changing position whilst skydiving causes massive changes in air

resistance, dramatically affecting how fast you fall…
Skydiving Stages
 Complete the skydiving stages worksheet
 Label the forces
 Draw correctly sized force arrows
 Write a sentence explaining the forces

experienced by the skydiver during the
descent
Skydiving Stages
 Stage 1 – after just jumping from the plane the skydiver is not
moving very fast – their weight is a bigger force than their air
resistance, so they accelerate downwards
Skydiving Stages
 Stage 2 – eventually the force of the air resistance has increased so
much that it is the same size as the skydiver’s weight – the forces are
balanced and the speed remains constant (this is terminal velocity)
Skydiving Stages
 Stage 3 – when the chute opens air resistance increases dramatically:
the air resistance force is much greater than the weight force, so the
skydiver slows down
Skydiving Stages
 Stage 4 – as the skydiver slows, the air resistance force from the
chute is reduced, until it is the same size as the weight force – the
forces are balanced and the speed remains constant (this is a new
terminal velocity)
Skydive
Terminal Velocity
 When vehicles and free-falling objects first move they have much
more force accelerating them than resistance which is trying to slow
them
 As speed increases resistance builds up – gradually reducing the

acceleration
 Eventually the resistance forces is

equal to the accelerating force and
the object remains at a constant
speed (terminal velocity)
Resultant Force
 In most real situations there are at least two forces acting on an
object along any direction – the overall effect of these forces is the
resultant force, and will decide the motion of the object (whether it
accelerates, decelerates or stays at a constant speed)
 E.g. a car of mass 1750kg has an engine producing a driving force

of 5’200N, with a drag force of 5’150N at 70mph – what is its
acceleration when setting off from rest & at 70mph?
Resultant Force
 Initially work out the resultant force at rest and at 70mph…
5’200N 5’150N 5’200N
Resultant force = 5’200N (no drag at Resultant force = 50N (5’200N – 5150N)
0mph)!
Acceleration = force ÷ mass
Acceleration = 5’200 ÷ 1’750 = 3.0m/s2 Acceleration = 50 ÷ 1’750 = 0.03m/s2

Velocity-Time Graph
 Can you annotate what the velocity-time graph shows for a
parachute jump?
Velocity-Time Graph
Parachute opens – diver
Speed
slows down
increases…
Terminal
Velocity
velocity
reached…
New, lower terminal velocity Time

reached Diver hits the ground
Questions
1. The diagram shows a skydiver – two forces act on the skydiver (X and Y)
X
a) What is the equation which links weight, gravitational field strength and mass?
b) What causes force X?
c) As the skydiver falls the size of force X increases. What happens to the size of
force Y?
d) Describe the motion of the skydiver when force X is smaller than force Y; and
when force X is equal to force Y
Answers
a) What is the equation which links weight, gravitational field
strength and mass? Weight = mass x gravity
a) What causes force X? Drag (air resistance / friction)
a) As the skydiver falls the size of force X increases. What happens to

the size of force Y? Stays the same
a) Describe the motion of the skydiver when force X is smaller than

force Y; and when force X is equal to force Y. When force X is
smaller than force Y the skydiver accelerates downwards. When
the forces are equal the skydiver moves at a constant speed

Terminal Velocity

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Terminal Velocity

 What happens if the skydiver changes their position?

 The skydiver’s force (W=mg) remains

 But their air resistance changes

Weight (N) = mass (kg) x gravity (N/kg)

 On Earth the strength of gravity = 10N/kg

 Changing position whilst skydiving causes massive changes in air

 Label the forces

 Draw correctly sized force arrows

 Write a sentence explaining the forces

 As speed increases resistance builds up – gradually reducing the

 Eventually the resistance forces is

 E.g. a car of mass 1750kg has an engine producing a driving force

5’200N 5’150N 5’200N

Acceleration = force ÷ mass

Acceleration = 5’200 ÷ 1’750 = 3.0m/s2 Acceleration = 50 ÷ 1’750 = 0.03m/s2

New, lower terminal velocity Time

a) What causes force X? Drag (air resistance / friction)

a) As the skydiver falls the size of force X increases. What happens to

a) Describe the motion of the skydiver when force X is smaller than

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