Air Resistance Essays

  • Air Resistance on a Fan Car

    968 Words  | 2 Pages

    Air Resistance on a Fan Car Problem: When a large fan is blowing air against the fan car at three different speeds (high, medium, and low), then will the overall speed be lowered? Materials: · Fan car (K’NEX pieces, small, battery-powered fan, wheels with tires) · AA batteries · Large 3-speed fan · Timer · Masking tape Process: 1. Load two AA batteries into the fan that is attached to the K’NEX car. 2. Mark a starting line and a finish line two meters away from each other with

  • Air Resistance, Tyres And Friction

    3686 Words  | 8 Pages

    narrow. This is so a minimum of air resistance or drag affects the dragster with lower drag better acceleration an in turn a better top speed can be achieved all leading to a better pass (race time). Now lets try to understand the concept of air resistance and drag. A basic example is placing your hand out the window with your palm facing forwards as you are driving your car along at about sixty kilometres per hour. You will feel a strong force of the wind (air resistance) pushing back at your hand.

  • Gravitational Pull and Parachute Investigation

    1497 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gravitational Pull and Parachute Investigation Aim The aim of the experiment is to investigate how each of several different weights of varying mass attached to a parachute in turn can influence the gravitational pull and air resistance forces acting on it, consequently affecting the time it takes to reach the ground when dropped from a specific height. Preliminary Work Forces are measured in Newtons (N), named after Isaac Newton who invented this unit. We cannot see them but instead

  • Investigating a Ski Jump

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    velocity. mgh = 1/2mv² gh = 1/2v² v² = ¶2gh v=¶19.6h h= height started v=velocity g=9.8 This formula will be used to find the horizontal speed of the ball which in the air will not change as I am ignoring air resistance. After finding the horizontal speed I will need to find the amount of time the ball is in air which is the same every time. S =ut + 1/2at² s = distance u= intial velocity a= accelaration t= time Aim: To investigate how changing the height a ball is dropped on a ramp

  • Effect of Object's Weight on Its Terminal Velocity as it is Falling

    828 Words  | 2 Pages

    is air resistance. So to make air resistance the same size as the downward force, the object has to be travelling at a fast enough velocity. A heavier weight will accelerate to a higher terminal velocity before these two forces are balanced than a lighter one. This is because air resistance increases when velocity increases as more air particles collide with the object, which slows the acceleration of the object down. So the heavier the object the larger the downward force so more air resistance

  • The Physics of Skiing

    1246 Words  | 3 Pages

    skiing so fun and challenging. I will also discuss how things like wax and the shape and width of your skis can affect these laws of physics and enhance your skiing. There are really only two main forces acting on a skier, they are gravity and air resistance. The first and most important thing relating to the physics of skiing is the law of gravity. Gravity is the most familiar force in our everyday lives it is the force that keeps us on the ground it is also the force that makes things fall. We have

  • Investigating How the Height From Which a Table Tennis Ball is Dropped Affects Its Bounce

    1736 Words  | 4 Pages

    pressure of the air in the ball, the height from which it is dropped, its material, mass and its temperature; the type of floor surface, its temperature and its angle; and the acceleration due to gravity, the temperature and the air resistance of the air that the ball will pass through. In this experiment I will investigate the way in which the height from which it is dropped affects the bounce of a table tennis ball. Planning Objects that fall vertically, without air resistance, all have the

  • Physics of Paintball

    650 Words  | 2 Pages

    the way in which a paintball fly's through the air and lastly how to determine optimum ranges for paintballs. Firing a paintball As you fire the trigger, the paintball is being pushed down the barrel of the marker by the difference in pressure between the CO2 from a tank attached to the marker which builds up behind the ball and the air in front of the ball. There are several other forces which act on the paintball besides the air resistance and the CO2. One is the friction of the ball against

  • Physics of a Rocket's Trajectory

    1018 Words  | 3 Pages

    m with M and define M as the instantaneous mass of the rocket, including the unexpended fuel. We also have to incorporate the other forces acting on the rocket, such as gravity and air resistance.� The force of gravity is equal to mg.� The force of air resistance is �where C is the drag coefficient, is the air density, A is the cross-sectional area of the body perpendicular to the velocity, and v is the velocity.� By themselves, these formulas seem somewhat easy, but a rocket�s flight incorporates

  • Investigation of Falling Cake Cases

    2155 Words  | 5 Pages

    Terminal velocity is the maximum speed that a given fallen object can obtain. Terminal velocity is obtained in this way; when an object first starts falling, it accelerates for some while after starting. Eventually the force upwards due to the air flowing over the objects body is equal to the weight acting downwards, and it no longer accelerates. We can also obtain by using Newton's 2nd law how there is no acceleration on the falling object. We know that when there is a greater gravitational

  • Parachutes Investigation

    1119 Words  | 3 Pages

    of the chords, d) The shape of the canopy Also the forces acting on the parachute had to be taken into consideration and appreciated for how they could be influenced or used to aid the rate of descent. The forces came in the form of air resistance and gravity. Procedure I chose to see what the effects of the weight the parachute had to support would have on the rate of its descent. My original prediction after some general thinking was that the heavier the parachute was, the faster

  • The Effect of Weight on Distance Traveled

    814 Words  | 2 Pages

    force (N) mass (kg) Forces ------ Friction = the force which resists movement between two surfaces that are in contact. Gravity = the force that pulls objects towards the Earth. Air resistance = the force that acts in the opposite direction to the motion when an object is moving through the air. When an object is stationary or at a constant speed we know that the forces acting on it are balanced. However, if an object changes direction, shape or size or if it slows down or speeds

  • Warming Up the Ball Before Playing Squash Ball

    644 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hypothesis Warming up the squash ball helps it bounce higher. Variables: Type of Surface Height of Drop - Independent variable Temperature of Ball Material of Ball Acceleration Due To Gravity Mass Angle of Surface Air Resistance Diameter of Ball Height of Bounce - Dependant Variable Plan I aim to find out if warming up squash balls before bouncing them affects the height of its bounce. I will need a squash ball, a meter ruler, goggles, a Bunsen burner, a

  • Rocketry

    881 Words  | 2 Pages

    is sent streaming down out the rocket nozzle and causing the rocket to accelerate up. Rockets are usually shaped like an arrow, with long and slender bodies and fins at the bottom. This shape provides stability for flying straight, and with low air resistance for flying fast. The evolution of the rocket has made it an irreplaceable tool in the exploration of space. For centuries, the ancient Chinese has used rockets for ceremonial and warfare purposes. The Chinese were the first known people to use

  • Pendulum Investigation

    1305 Words  | 3 Pages

    on the time for a complete swing. As the pendulum gets longer the time increases. As the pendulum gets shorter the time decreases. Air resistance A big and light pendulum bobble would be affected by a major amount of air resistance. This might cause the pendulum to move in a different way. With a little pendulum bobble there is very small air resistance. This can easily be observed because it takes an extended time for the pendulum to stop swinging, so only a small amount of energy is

  • Physics Of Curveball Essay

    800 Words  | 2 Pages

    would figure it out, but to this day I am still clueless. I have always been able to throw a decent curve ball; you don’t just throw 6 one hit games in your high school career without one. I have always wondered why and how the ball curves through the air, and it wasn’t until now that I have really had the chance to research a topic that has puzzled me for so long. I would bet that even pitchers in the “Big show” don’t know how or why, but they obviously have the talent and ability. I don’t know when

  • Trolley Investigation

    1738 Words  | 4 Pages

    trolley and I must first assess which one would be a suitable one to investigate: * Shape of the trolley- the shape and aerodynamics of the trolley can affect its motion behaviour. This is because the trolley is affected by air resistance and certain shapes are more air resistant than others. This would be a difficult variable to investigate because we would be limited by the number of shapes we could use. It would be difficult to plot the results in the form of a line graph. * Gradient

  • Data Analysis

    3655 Words  | 8 Pages

    down. Then the car will accelerate even more as it drops off the end of the ramp and the friction from the ramp will no longer be present. Although there will still be air resistance, the friction from the ramp will be gone, and only friction from the air and from the ticker tape will be present. If we were to assume no resistance, the car's acceleration would go up to about 9.8ms-2 (although this value for gravity is not exact, gravity varies so much in different areas of the Earth that it is

  • Factors that Affect the Speeds of Rollercoasters

    1599 Words  | 4 Pages

    --------- FACTORS ------- VERTICAL HEIGHT OF SLOPE (THE HIGHER, THE FASTER) ------------------------------------------------- GRADIENT OF THE SLOPE (THE STEEPER, THE FASTER) ----------------------------------------------- AIR RESISTANCE (THE MORE THERE IS, THE SLOWER) FRICTION (THE MORE THERE IS, THE SLOWER) VARIABLES I have chosen to investigate the vertical height of the roller coaster slope. As the car (marble) rolls down the slope, it can be timed, and the length

  • Investigating Free-falling Objects and Projectile Motions

    618 Words  | 2 Pages

    as the force. The proportionality constant is the mass, m, of the object. F = ma To prove this, astronauts on the moon dropped a hammer and a feather on the moon's surface. Both reached the ground at the same time, because there is no air resistance. Both objects fell with increasing spped. They accelerated at a rate called the acceleration of free fall/ acceleration due to gravity. On earth the acceleration, g is close to 9.8m/s/s. However, we usually associate the idea with objects