[eli5] When resultant forces are equal on a falling object, why does the object still fall

Question

When weight acting downwards is equal to air resistance acting upwards why is the object falling???

In: 0

Answer 1

Unbalanced forces will result in *acceleration*, which is a change in an object’s speed or direction. Balanced forces mean an object isn’t accelerating, so it’s speed/direction are *constant*, but not necessarily zero/stationary. It will keep moving or not moving in whatever direction that it is fir the foreseeable future until it interacts with something else or experiences another force.