What is it called when speed increases?
Acceleration
When the force of air resistance is equal to the force of gravity, an object will stop accelerating and fall at a constant speed. What is this called?
Terminal velocity
What happens when a skydiver opens their parachute?
When a skydiver opens their parachute, the surface area of the parachute increases, creating more air resistance. This slows down the skydiver and reduces their velocity. Ultimately, the parachute reduces the skydiver's descent speed, allowing for a safer and controlled landing.
What will fall faster- a plain piece of paper of a piece of paper crumpled into a ball? Explain why.
A crumpled piece of paper will fall faster than a plain sheet of paper. This is because the crumpled piece of paper has a greater surface area relative to its mass compared to the plain sheet of paper. The increased surface area allows for more air resistance to act on the crumpled paper, slowing its descent. In contrast, the plain sheet of paper offers less air resistance due to its limited surface area, allowing it to fall at a slower rate.
On Earth, a feather will fall more slowly than a rock when they are dropped at the same time. On the moon, the feather and rock will fall at the same speed. Why is there a difference in speed on Earth, but not on the moon?
The difference in speed at which a feather and a rock fall when dropped on Earth compared to the moon is due to the effects of gravity and air resistance.
On Earth, gravity pulls both the feather and the rock downward with the same acceleration. However, the feather experiences a significant amount of air resistance as it falls due to its large surface area and low mass, which slows it down. In contrast, the rock has a smaller surface area relative to its mass and falls more quickly through the air due to less air resistance.
On the moon, there is no atmosphere and therefore no air resistance to impede the falling objects. This lack of air resistance allows both the feather and the rock to fall at the same rate, as they are affected only by the moon's gravity, which is the same for both objects.