The Effect of a Falling Object's Weight On Its The Terminal Velocit

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The Effect of a Falling Object's Weight On Its The Terminal Velocity

There are a number of factors that effect terminal velocity, such as

surface area, weight of object, height from which it is dropped, and

wind. I have chosen to investigate the weight of the object. It will

be the only variable that I change.

AIM:

The aim of this investigation is to find out what happens to the

terminal velocity when the mass and weight of the falling paper case

is changed.

PREDICTION:

I predict that the mass of the paper case will have a direct result on

the terminal velocity: the heavier the paper case, the faster the

terminal velocity will be. I am basing my prediction on the formula: (

). Also, if the paper case is heavier it will have more gravitational

pull pulling it down, thus increasing the speed. I also predict that

the lighter the paper case, the quicker it will reach its terminal

velocity. This is because to reach terminal velocity, the air

resistance has to be equal to the accelerating force, if the

accelerating force is less, then it should take less time for the air

resistance to become equal to it.

MY PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENT:

For my preliminary experiment, I did the experiment, but only using

the bare paper cases with no weights in, this was because I just

wanted to check if the height that we were dropping the cases from was

appropriate, and also to get used to using the apparatus. The

preliminary work that I did helped me to plan my actual investigation

better, as I learnt from the mistakes that I made. These were things

like starting the stopwatch slightly late or early, which changed the

times of my results. I also learnt that one metre was not high enough

as it did not give me enough time to start and stop the clock

accurately.

I am glad that I did a preliminary experiment, as now, when I do my

actual experiment I will feel more confident using the apparatus.

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