- #1
Barclay
- 208
- 1
This is not a homework question. It is basic physics.
The question in the book relates to terminal velocity. I think the answer in the book is incorrect. Please advise.
Students are investigating how the area of a parachute affects the forces acting on it in freefall. Steel balls are attached to parachutes of varying sizes and then dropped from a fixed height, timing how long it takes to hit the ground.
Then the book asks a question:
Question: will the ball with the largest parachute will be traveling more quickly or more slowly than other balls traveling at terminal velocity?
I think the answer should be slowly but the book says quickly.
If you are the steel ball, wouldn't you rather have a large surface area parachute so that you fall slowly?
The question in the book relates to terminal velocity. I think the answer in the book is incorrect. Please advise.
Students are investigating how the area of a parachute affects the forces acting on it in freefall. Steel balls are attached to parachutes of varying sizes and then dropped from a fixed height, timing how long it takes to hit the ground.
Then the book asks a question:
Question: will the ball with the largest parachute will be traveling more quickly or more slowly than other balls traveling at terminal velocity?
I think the answer should be slowly but the book says quickly.
If you are the steel ball, wouldn't you rather have a large surface area parachute so that you fall slowly?