If the resistance force against falling objects, is always equivalent to its weight (so they can fall faster higher up because of thinner air and lower resistance), why do meteorites burn up in the atmosphere, but rocks can be pushed way faster than their terminal velocity in water but nothing really happens?
In: Physics
Meteors are *well* above terminal velocity in the atmosphere. They’re streaking in at 25,000+ mph, a hundred times their expected terminal velocity.
This causes intense compression of the air in front of them and the heat and shock often destroys them.
If you rammed a rock through water at several hundred times terminal velocity the violent cavitation and immense pressure would also likely shatter it.
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