Terminal Velocity
Problems involving terminal velocity and calculus
What is terminal velocity?
• Terminal velocity is the fastest speed an object can obtain while
moving through a fluid that has a resistance dependent upon the
velocity of the object
• Terminal velocity occurs when acceleration reaches zero.
• Fnet = 0 therefore the forward force = the resistance force
• When an object falls through the air it picks up speed and the air
pushes back ever harder driving the acceleration down.
• Remember the acceleration decreases, but it is still accelerating,
hence the velocity increases all the way to terminal velocity
• In general, air resistance depends on the shape of the falling object
and the speed of the object (also the density of the fluid, but that is
typically constant)