Frictional Force and Terminal Velocity

Frictional Force and Terminal Velocity

Friction is always there to slow things down

• If an object has no force propelling it along it will slways slow down and stop because of friction.
• Friction always acts in the opposite direction of movement.
• To travel at a steady speed between two surfaces in contact, or when an object passes through a fluid (drag).

Resistance or "Drag" From Fluids (air or liquid)

Most of the resitive forces are  caused by air resitance or "drag". The most important factor by far in reducing drag in fluids is keeping the shape of the object streamlined. The opposite extreme is a parachute which is about as high drag as you can get.

Drag increases as the speed increases

Frictional forces from fluids always increase with speed. A car has much more friction to work against when travelling at 70mph compares to 30mph the engine has to work much harder just to maintain a steady speed.

Terminal Velocity

When falling objects first set…