When weight acting downwards is equal to air resistance acting upwards why is the object falling???
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Force causes changes motion.
If an object is moving it will continue moving until a force acts to stop it.
Force causes changes motion.
If an object is moving it will continue moving until a force acts to stop it.
We can answer this one of two of Newton’s laws–take your pick.
Law 2:
F = dp/dt (or more commonly ma).
This law says how much acceleration an object will experience when acted upon by a force.
This law says that a force results in a change of momentum (or acceleration if you prefer). Now you are asking about terminal velocity where the gravitational force is equal to the drag force. Since these forces are equal and in opposite directions, the net force of the falling object is zero. Since the net force is zero, the acceleration is zero. According to your initial conditions the object was already falling so it will continue to do so at the same rate.
In fact, if the velocity of the object changed, then the drag force would change. The gravitational and drag forces would no longer be equal. If the object was slowed down, then it will accelerate since gravity is a little stronger than the drag. If the object was sped up, then it would decelerate (accelerate in the upwards direction) because the drag force would be slightly larger than the gravitational force. NOTE: We are assuming no change in aerodynamics of the object.
Law #1:
A body at rest stays at rest, and a body in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
This is the law of inertia which states that it requires a force to change the velocity of an object (Laws 1 & 2 are really kind of redundant…) In the case of terminal velocity as we noted above, the drag and gravitational force are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction. A balanced force has zero net force (all the forces are balanced/cancel each other out). Therefore the object will continue falling as it was since no net force is acting upon it.
We can answer this one of two of Newton’s laws–take your pick.
Law 2:
F = dp/dt (or more commonly ma).
This law says how much acceleration an object will experience when acted upon by a force.
This law says that a force results in a change of momentum (or acceleration if you prefer). Now you are asking about terminal velocity where the gravitational force is equal to the drag force. Since these forces are equal and in opposite directions, the net force of the falling object is zero. Since the net force is zero, the acceleration is zero. According to your initial conditions the object was already falling so it will continue to do so at the same rate.
In fact, if the velocity of the object changed, then the drag force would change. The gravitational and drag forces would no longer be equal. If the object was slowed down, then it will accelerate since gravity is a little stronger than the drag. If the object was sped up, then it would decelerate (accelerate in the upwards direction) because the drag force would be slightly larger than the gravitational force. NOTE: We are assuming no change in aerodynamics of the object.
Law #1:
A body at rest stays at rest, and a body in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
This is the law of inertia which states that it requires a force to change the velocity of an object (Laws 1 & 2 are really kind of redundant…) In the case of terminal velocity as we noted above, the drag and gravitational force are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction. A balanced force has zero net force (all the forces are balanced/cancel each other out). Therefore the object will continue falling as it was since no net force is acting upon it.
We can answer this one of two of Newton’s laws–take your pick.
Law 2:
F = dp/dt (or more commonly ma).
This law says how much acceleration an object will experience when acted upon by a force.
This law says that a force results in a change of momentum (or acceleration if you prefer). Now you are asking about terminal velocity where the gravitational force is equal to the drag force. Since these forces are equal and in opposite directions, the net force of the falling object is zero. Since the net force is zero, the acceleration is zero. According to your initial conditions the object was already falling so it will continue to do so at the same rate.
In fact, if the velocity of the object changed, then the drag force would change. The gravitational and drag forces would no longer be equal. If the object was slowed down, then it will accelerate since gravity is a little stronger than the drag. If the object was sped up, then it would decelerate (accelerate in the upwards direction) because the drag force would be slightly larger than the gravitational force. NOTE: We are assuming no change in aerodynamics of the object.
Law #1:
A body at rest stays at rest, and a body in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
This is the law of inertia which states that it requires a force to change the velocity of an object (Laws 1 & 2 are really kind of redundant…) In the case of terminal velocity as we noted above, the drag and gravitational force are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction. A balanced force has zero net force (all the forces are balanced/cancel each other out). Therefore the object will continue falling as it was since no net force is acting upon it.
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