Terminal velocity. It occurs when the force of gravity is equal to the force applied by air resistance in the opposite direction. With equal and opposite forces the object can not accelerate and falls at a constant speed. Every object has a different terminal velocity and depending on the surface area, can also be manipulated
The fastest velocity a falling object can reach is called its terminal velocity. This happens when the force of air resistance is equal to the downwards force of weight (gravity), so the object is in equilibrium, and thus reaches a constant velocity.
Its the air resistance that causes the free falling body to reach its terminal velocity
Absolutely correct.
Yes. - And please don't combine "does" and "is" in the same question that way.
A falling object accelerates at a rate of 9.8 m/s2. That means that for every second that it is falling, its velocity increases by 9.8 m/s. The higher that the object is falling from, the longer it will have to speed up, thus the higher its velocity upon impact will be. (This is assuming that it does not reach terminal velocity, the velocity at which an object can no longer accelerate because it is travelling so fast that the drag force (air resistance) is equal to the force of gravity.)
There is no drag in a vacuum to act against the acceleration.
The Answer Is Roughly 7 Miles Per Second
When an object falls, air resistance causes it to reach a terminal velocity. After that, it does not increase the speed of falling, no matter how far it has still to fall.
Gravitational force and the force of friction (the friction of the object and the air).
As a falling object speeds up, at some point the amount of air resistance is equal to the acceleration of gravity, and the object then falls at a steady velocity known as the terminal velocity, until it impacts the ground. Notice that this behavior has nothing to do with gravity in general or the Earth in particular. It's all the result of air.
Without air, the speed of a falling object keeps increasing, and never reaches a maximum. The only thing that causes it to reach a maximum and stop increasing is air resistance. The effects of air resistance depend on the size, shape, and composition of the object, and the calculation of the "terminal velocity" in advance is very complex.
If we are talking about something in the Earth's atmosphere then No, the object will reach a thermal velocity after which the velocity remains constant. If we are talking about something falling where there is no atmosphere but still an attractive gravitational mass then yes.