What is drag force and terminal velocity?

When drag is equal to weight, there is no net external force on the object and the vertical acceleration goes to zero. With no acceleration, the object falls at a constant velocity as described by Newton’s first law of motion. The constant vertical velocity is called the terminal velocity .

What is drag force in physics?

Drag is the aerodynamic force that opposes an aircraft’s motion through the air. Drag is generated by the difference in velocity between the solid object and the fluid. There must be motion between the object and the fluid.

How do you derive drag force equations?

For larger objects (such as a baseball) moving at a velocity v in air, the drag force is given by FD=12CρAv2 F D = 1 2 C ρ A v 2 , where C is the drag coefficient (typical values are given in Table 1), A is the area of the object facing the fluid, and ρ is the fluid density.

How is drag force related to velocity?

Drag force is proportional to the velocity for low-speed flow and the squared velocity for high speed flow, where the distinction between low and high speed is measured by the Reynolds number. Drag forces always tend to decrease fluid velocity relative to the solid object in the fluid’s path.

How do you find terminal velocity with drag coefficient?

Use the terminal velocity formula, v = the square root of ((2*m*g)/(ρ*A*C)).

1. m = mass of the falling object.
2. g = the acceleration due to gravity.
3. ρ = the density of the fluid the object is falling through.
4. A = the projected area of the object.
5. C = the drag coefficient.

What is terminal force?

Terminal velocity is the maximum velocity (speed) attainable by an object as it falls through a fluid (air is the most common example). It occurs when the sum of the drag force (Fd) and the buoyancy is equal to the downward force of gravity (FG) acting on the object.