A 2-kg object is dropped from a height of 1000 m. What is the force of air resistance on the object when it reaches terminal velocity?

Answer 1

#19.6"N"#

The falling object experiences its weight acting downwards and the air resistance in the opposite direction.

The air resistance increases with velocity so there may come a point, depending on the shape of the object and if there is sufficient height, where these 2 forces are equal.

Since the object has no net forces acting on it it will, according to Newton, no longer accelerate but continue with a constant velocity.

This is called Terminal Velocity.

So:

Air resistance = weight

#R=mg#

#:.R=2xx9.8=19.6"N"#

In the graphic you can see that the large air resistance of the parachute is balanced by her weight. She floats to the ground at a constant, terminal, velocity.

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Answer 2

Layla Ahmed

The force of air resistance on the object at terminal velocity is equal to the gravitational force acting on it, resulting in zero net force and constant velocity.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.