Eli5 How does terminal velocity work in lower gravity environments?

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I’m having some trouble wrapping my head around this concept. How does falling/reaching terminal velocity change depending on the force of gravity and atmosphere/drag. Example. Falling from the cliff on the Moon vs Earth or Mars vs. Earth.

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Terminal velocity is not affected by gravity. In a lower-gravity environment it may take you longer to reach terminal velocity, but assuming the atmosphere is similar to Earth’s, your terminal velocity will be about the same. If the atmosphere changes, *then* your terminal velocity changes.

The Moon is a bit of an odd case, because there is no atmosphere to speak of. Without an atmosphere, there can be no terminal velocity, at least not in the sense we usually think of it. You’re still limited by *c*, but that’s not the same thing, and it is very unlikely that you would fall long enough to reach *c* anyway.

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