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Terminara
Terminal Velocity Physics
Why does a skydiver stop speeding up? Air drag grows with the square of the speed. When drag balances weight, the net force is zero and the fall settles at terminal velocity, v_t = √(2mg/ρC_dA). For an 80 kg skydiver falling belly-down in sea-level air, that is about 53 m/s, roughly 190 km/h. A 3" pixel-art sticker; equation, symbols and sources in the physics panel below.
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3″ × 3″ kiss-cut sticker.
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The physics
A falling object speeds up until air drag, which grows with the square of speed, balances its weight. From then on it falls at a steady terminal velocity, approaching it along a tanh curve.
Equations
| Symbol | Meaning | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| \(m\) | mass of the skydiver (here 80 kg) | \(\mathrm{kg}\) |
| \(v\) | falling speed | \(\mathrm{m/s}\) |
| \(t\) | time since leaving the plane, falling from rest | \(\mathrm{s}\) |
| \(g\) | gravitational acceleration | \(\mathrm{m/s^2}\) |
| \(\rho\) | air density (here 1.225 kg/m^3, sea-level standard) | \(\mathrm{kg/m^3}\) |
| \(C_d A\) | drag coefficient times frontal area (here 0.45 m^2, belly-down) | \(\mathrm{m^2}\) |
| \(v_t\) | terminal velocity (here 53.4 m/s, about 192 km/h) | \(\mathrm{m/s}\) |
Sources
- NASA Glenn Research Center, Beginner’s Guide to Aeronautics: Terminal Velocity (opens in a new tab)
- Taylor, Classical Mechanics (2005), Sec. 2.4: Quadratic air resistance
Source Newton, I. (1687). Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, Book II, Section II (motion of bodies resisted in the duplicate ratio of their velocities). London: Royal Society (J. Streater).