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What is the effect of air resistance on the acceleration of falling objects?
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
All objects want to stay where they are. This is a simple rule of physics. It is called Inertia. When an object passes through the molecules that are in the air, the air particles, which want to stay where they are try to force the object that is moving, or indeed as you mentioned; falling to stay in its position. Because air can not do this, you get the effect which is called terminal velocity - the speed at which an item can travel at it's maximum through our atmosphere.
The effect of air means that falling objects can only hold up the constant acceleration due to gravity for a certain period of time before the object stops accelerating.
Another interesting effect that objects falling at high speed heat. This is due to the object that is moving smashing into the air molecules. This transfers energy and causes heat.
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoIt grows by 9.8 meters per second (32.1 feet per second)
for every second of time after the object is dropped.
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How does the acceleration of gravity compare between objects?
Acceleration due to gravity is the same for EVERY object on the earth, at the same altitude. The only thing that differs is the effect other forces have on it. For instance, in a vacuum, a feather and a bowling ball will both fall at the same rate. However, in normal air, the feather will be impeded by air resistance, so will fall slower.
When you drop a 5 rupee coin and a 2 rupee coin from 100 metres tall building at the same time which one will reach the earth quicker?
If you neglect air resistance, they'll hit the ground at the same time. This is a classic experiment proving that the force of gravity acts the same way on all objects. On the earth objects fall at an acceleration of 9.8 m/sec/sec, meaning their velocity increases 9.8 m/sec for every second they're falling. The same experiment has been done by people ranging from Galileo to American astronauts on the Moon. In reality, air resistance will have an effect on the speed and acceleration at which objects fall. All objects experience friction / resistance from air molecules, so anything that meets more resistance will fall more slowly. That's why a parachute lets a person fall more slowly than if they just dropped - its large surface area increases air friction. However, for similarly-sized items air resistance can be ignored because it will affect both the same way. A 5 rupee coin is larger than a 2 rupee coin so it may be slowed just a bit more. But if you did the same experiment in a vacuum the 2 coins would reach the ground at the same time.
Two bodies of different masses are allowed to fall freely how do their acceleration vary?
Mass doesn't effect how fast something falls, it is their size. This is related to air resistance. The larger the bodies, the slower they fall. ( This is what i remember from my science lesson)
A rocket becomes progressively easier to accelerate as it travels upward from the ground mainly because?
The rocket's acceleration is created by the net force acting on it. There are three forces acting on the rocket: the thrust provided by the engines, gravity or weight, and air resistance. The acceleration is inversely proportional to the rocket's mass. This is Newton's Second Law: (acceleration) = (net force) / (mass) We need to think about the direction of the forces. The thrust acts upward (call this positive), and both gravity and air resistance acts downward (call these negative). So we get (acceleration) = (thrust - weight - air resistance) / mass A typical rocket engine will provide constant thrust as long as the fuel lasts. But as the engine consumes fuel, expelling the exhaust products out the back of the rocket, the rocket's mass decreases. This tends to increase the rocket's acceleration since acceleration is inversely proportional to the mass. In addition to the decreasing mass, the rocket's weight decreases as it moves farther from the center of the Earth--- this effect is described by Newton's Law of Gravity. The rocket's decreasing weight tends to increase its upward acceleration. The action of air resistance is more complicated, and ordinarily we ignore air resistance in simple models just to avoid the complication air resistance gives to the problem. In the standard air resistance model, air resistance scales with the square of the rocket's speed and the air density. The rocket is moving faster and faster, but the air density is also decreasing as it rises through the atmosphere. I think we can safely say the air resistance force decreases as the rocket gains altitude, but a detailed answer illustrating precisely how this force changes would require a numerical simulation. Hope this helps!
A change in speed or direction?
A change in speed or direction is caused by a force and is called acceleration.
How would the observed value of acceleration be affected if the falling body used were heavier?
Your question describes it as a "falling body", so I'm assuming that you're asking about a body with no force on it except for the gravitational force. This is an important assumption. If it's true, then the mass (weight) of the falling body has no effect at all on its acceleration. Except for the effect of air resistance, all bodies fall with the same acceleration.
What occurs only when air resistance does not effect the motion of a falling object?
perfectly constant acceleration? Hypothetically, virtually infinite speed? A few things
What is the effect of gravity - on the motion of falling objects - that are not inhibited by air resistance?
All objects, under these conditions, will accelerate at the same rate as they fall. (Note: Just the fact that you can call it a "falling" object is one of the effects of gravity.)
What is the Effect of increasing the object's mass of the acceleration due to gravity?
On earth, the mass of an object has no effect whatsoever on its acceleration due to the force of gravity. All objects fall with the same acceleration, regardless of their mass. Any observed difference is due entirely to air resistance.
What is the effect of the mass of freely falling body on gravitational acceleration?
No effect whatsoever. Any two freely falling bodies fall with the same acceleration when dropped in the same place on the same planet. That includes any two objects falling on Earth. Someone is sure to jump in here and point out that objects with different mass don't fall with equal accelerations on Earth, and that's because of air resistance. They may even go on to provide answers to other questions that were not asked, such as a treatise on terminal velocity. All of that is true, even if confusing. This question stipulated that the bodies in question are "freely fallling". Bodies that are falling through air are not freely falling.
How does changing the weight of a falling object change the rate at which it falls?
As far as gravity is concerned, weight has no effect. If there's any difference in the rate of fall between two objects, it's strictly the result of air resistance. In the absence of air, all objects fall with the same acceleration, from the smallest feather to the largest boulder.
What is the effect of mass of object to speed of falling object to the earth?
If air resistance can be neglected, there is no effect. If there is air resistance, the general tendency is for more massive objects to fall faster. In places like the moon, where there is no air, a feather and a rock fall together.
The acceleration of gravity on the surface of a planet will effect a person or objects?
The acceleration affects the weight of the person and object
Does air resistance affect a quarter falling?
Absolutely,Although the effect will be minimal if you drop the quarter from waist height.If you drop it from an airplane, it might even reach terminal velocity where the air resistance would counteract and balance the acceleration due to gravity.
What is the cumulative effect of the forces on the objects motion?
The falling object
How does gravity effect a falling object?
If there is no air resistance, gravity will accelerate the falling object, that is, it will change its velocity.
What is the effect of distance of freely falling body from the centre of earth on gravitational acceleration?
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