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    3 - Terminal Velocity

    Uploaded by

    FirdausJaafar
    After completing a worksheet on terminal velocity: 1) A student reaches a constant velocity of 65 m/s when falling from 4,500m due to air resistance balancing the force of gravity, achieving terminal velocity. 2) Her velocity decreases to 10 m/s after opening her parachute, which increases air resistance. 3) Joe Kittinger set a record by falling for 5 minutes from over 100,000 feet, reaching 273 m/s, but never reached a constant velocity due to lack of air resistance at that altitude.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    3 - Terminal Velocity

    Uploaded by

    FirdausJaafar
    89 views2 pages
    After completing a worksheet on terminal velocity: 1) A student reaches a constant velocity of 65 m/s when falling from 4,500m due to air resistance balancing the force of gravity, achieving terminal velocity. 2) Her velocity decreases to 10 m/s after opening her parachute, which increases air resistance. 3) Joe Kittinger set a record by falling for 5 minutes from over 100,000 feet, reaching 273 m/s, but never reached a constant velocity due to lack of air resistance at that altitude.

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    velocity

    Original Title

    3- Terminal Velocity

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    After completing a worksheet on terminal velocity: 1) A student reaches a constant velocity of 65 m/s when falling from 4,500m due to air resistance balancing the force of gravity, achieving terminal velocity. 2) Her velocity decreases to 10 m/s after opening her parachute, which increases air resistance. 3) Joe Kittinger set a record by falling for 5 minutes from over 100,000 feet, reaching 273 m/s, but never reached a constant velocity due to lack of air resistance at that altitude.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    89 views2 pages

    3 - Terminal Velocity

    Uploaded by

    FirdausJaafar
    After completing a worksheet on terminal velocity: 1) A student reaches a constant velocity of 65 m/s when falling from 4,500m due to air resistance balancing the force of gravity, achieving terminal velocity. 2) Her velocity decreases to 10 m/s after opening her parachute, which increases air resistance. 3) Joe Kittinger set a record by falling for 5 minutes from over 100,000 feet, reaching 273 m/s, but never reached a constant velocity due to lack of air resistance at that altitude.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    TERMINAL VELOCITY

    After completing this worksheet you should be able to:


    model the fall of an object using a spreadsheet
    understand what factors affect the fall of an object
    generate and interpret velocity-time graphs
    understand the meaning of terminal velocity
    You will cover EXCEL skills
    A student falls from an aircraft from 4500m (15,000 ft). Soon, she reaches a constant velocity
    of 65 m/s (150 mph). Why does she fall at a constant velocity? She opens the parachute and
    her velocity quickly decreases to a constant 10 m/s? Why is her velocity reduced?
    Joe Kittinger jumped from a balloon at 102,800 feet on August 16th 1960 and set a world high
    altitude parachute jump record. He was in freefall for 5 minutes and reached a velocity of 273
    m/s (614 mph), a record that stands today. He never reached a constant velocity. Why?
    force (drag)
    force (drag)

    force (gravity)

    force (gravity)

    (a)

    (b)

    In (a) above, the sky-diver has just left the aircraft. The force due to gravity (acting
    downwards) exceeds the drag force due to air resistance (acting upwards). There is a net
    force acting downwards and, hence, a downwards acceleration (from F=ma).
    Now look at (b) above. As the sky-divers velocity increases, the drag force increases also.
    Eventually, the force due to gravity equals the drag force and there is no net force. No net
    force means there is no acceleration (F=0=ma) and no acceleration means the velocity does
    not change. This is terminal velocity.
    Force due to gravity = mg

    m=mass of sky-diver
    g=acceleration due to gravity (=9.8 m/s2)

    Drag force = CADv2

    C = coefficient of drag
    A = area of falling object
    9

    D = air density
    v = velocity of sky-diver

    Step 1

    1
    2
    3

    Time
    s
    0.0

    Height
    m
    2000.0

    Velocity
    m/s
    0.0

    D
    Force
    (gravity)
    N

    E
    Force
    (drag)
    N

    F
    Net
    force
    N

    Start your spreadsheet as


    shown. Note the units in row
    2 (always good practice).
    Enter the starting values for
    time, height and velocity.

    G
    Acceleration
    m/s2

    Now enter the values


    shown in columns HK. Again, it is good
    practice to include
    units.
    Why is g negative? In
    what direction will it
    act?
    Name the cells J1-J6
    as shown.

    Step 2
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6

    H
    Air density
    Area
    Drag coefficient
    Mass person
    Acc. gravity
    Time interval

    I
    D=
    A=
    C=
    m=
    g=
    t=

    J
    1.2
    0.5
    0.5
    70
    -9.8
    1

    K
    kg/m3
    m2

    Name J1 as AirDensity

    kg
    m/s2
    s

    Name J4 as m

    Name J3 as DragCoeff
    Name J5 as g
    Name J6 as t

    Step 3:

    1
    2
    3
    4

    Name J2 as Area

    Time
    s
    0.0
    1.0

    Height
    m
    2000.0
    2000.0

    Velocity
    m/s
    0.0
    -9.8

    =A3 + t

    =C3 + G3*t

    =B3 + C3*t

    D
    Force
    (gravity)
    N
    -686.0
    -686.0

    E
    Force
    (drag)
    N
    0.0
    14.4

    F
    Net
    force
    N
    -686.0
    -671.6

    G
    Acceleration
    m/s2
    -9.8
    -9.6

    =F3/m

    Put the formulae shown


    into the cells marked in
    bold. Why are both the
    velocity and force due
    gravity negative?
    Fill down columns A-G.

    =0.5*DragCoeff*Area*AirDensity*C3^2

    Step 4:

    0.0
    0.0

    Plot the speed of the sky-diver (y axis) against


    time (x axis) for a time period of 30 seconds.

    2.0

    4.0

    6.0

    8.0

    10.0

    12.0

    14.0

    16.0

    18.0

    -2.0

    QUESTIONS
    1. Plot the height of the sky-diver (y axis) against time
    (x axis). Identify the part of the curve where the skydiver is falling with constant velocity. Explain.

    Speed (m/s)

    -4.0

    -6.0

    -8.0

    2. Now consider the situation where the sky-divers


    parachute opens immediately on leaving the plane. If
    the area of the parachute is 10 m2, find the sky-divers
    terminal velocity. The actual terminal velocity is found
    to be 10 m/s. Which quantity should you change to obtain the correct terminal velocity?
    -10.0

    -12.0

    Tim e (s )

    3. The forward acceleration of a Formula 1 racing car is 1.4g and its maximum straight line
    velocity is 93 m/s. The mass of car plus driver is 605 kg and the effective area is 2 m2. Use
    your model to find the velocity of the car from a standing start for 6 seconds. What value of the
    drag coefficient, C, must you use? C=0.3 to 0.4 for a saloon car. Comment and explain the
    difference for the Formula 1 car.
    4. By considering the forces acting on the racing car in question 3, explain why the velocity of
    the car does not increase, even though the driver has his foot full on the throttle.

    10

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