When exiting off of an interstate, why does the car seem to go from 75mph to 50mph faster than 25mph to 0mph? The road composition, grade of the road, or the tires on the vehicle never changed, yet the car seems to maintain its velocity at the slower speeds.
In: Physics
For one, automatic transmissions will provide power to the wheels while in gear and idle (as in not pressing the gas). This will naturally keep the car moving forward at *some* speed, though it tends to be pretty low for most vehicles.
But a big factor is air resistance. Your car meets a whole lot more air in a given period of time at 75, and 50, than it does at 25. That air pushes against the car trying to move through it (or rather the car pushes into the air in front of it). The higher the speed the more resistance your car will meet, if you stop providing power (let off the gas) the high resistance of having a high speed will work to lower the speed more quickly than low resistance.
Go outside in some high winds and walk into the wind. Now run into the wind. Now turn around and walk/run with the wind. Which one is easier? You car goes through a similar effect, and the more speed it has the “faster” the wind becomes.
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