How do gravity, air friction, and its size and mass affect a ball's terminal velocity? other worksheets
for use with materialworlds Terminal velocity simulation
© materialworlds.com 2001
In this experiment you'll investigate how changes in gravity, air friction, and a ball's size and mass affect its terminal velocity - and the time taken to reach it. Sometimes you'll need to delete the ground to let the ball fall far enough to reach its terminal velocity. (Pause the simulation, select the ground plane with the mouse, and press the Delete key.)
To keep your experimentation simple and clear, vary just one variable at a time - returning it to its original value before trying another. (The browser's "Refresh" button will reset all controls to their original values.)
Pause and
rewind the
simulation to raise the ball to the same position before each fall (and replace
the ground if you deleted it).First record the unaltered simulation's terminal velocity (from the "Vertical velocity" display) and the time it takes to reach it.
terminal velocity:
time taken to reach terminal velocity:
Now try increasing each variable in turn - and see what effect this has on the terminal velocity and the time taken to reach it.
(Don't forget to reset the control to its original value before you experiment on the next.)
Have a go at predicting the result before you do the experiment.
Enter your predictions and results in the table below: