Air Resistance and Terminal Velocity

Lesson 8 of 11 · 7 min · Free, no account needed

What you will learn

Air resistance (drag) pushes against motion through air, and it grows with speed.
A falling body speeds up until drag equals its weight. Then the net force is zero and the speed stays the same: terminal velocity.
More area means more drag: a spread-out skydiver levels off near 55 m/s, head-down near 80 m/s, under a parachute near 5 m/s.

A skydiver falls for a minute before opening the chute. Do they speed up the whole time?
Draw your forecast of their speed.
Jump. Watch the two arrows and the speed graph.
Change the pose. How does it change the top speed?
The push of the air and the top speed have names.
Air resistance (drag): the air pushes against anything moving through it. Faster, and wider, means more drag.
Terminal velocity: the speed where drag equals weight. Net force 0, so the speed stops changing.
Simplified model: drag = k v², with k set by the shape. Real drag also depends on air thinning with height.
Game: formation. Catch your friend and fly level with them for 5 seconds.
Tuck to dive faster, spread out to slow down. Open by 1500 m.
A whole jump. Tap when the parachute opened, then tap a moment where drag equals weight.
Code: this skydiver simulation forgot the air. After a minute it says 2100 km/h. Fix the line for a.
One loop turn is one second. k = drag factor ÷ mass.
On the plateau, the skydiver falls at a steady 55 m/s. What is true?
Your forecast from the start against the real fall. Press Play.

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