Physics - Weight and Terminal Velocity

weight and terminal velocity

mass

the amount of matter an object contains, measured in g/kg with mass balance

weight

a force on an object caused by GRAVITY, measured in Newtons with Newton meter

weight

weight is a force

mass

it is not a force

mass on Earth

the same as mass on the moon

weight on Earth

different on moon

weight (formula)

mass (kg) x gravitational field strength (N/kg or m/s²)

terminal velocity

e.g.

→ when a skydiver jumps out of a plane, initially the only force acting on them is the WEIGHT

→ this means that they ACCELERATE DOWNWARDS

→ as their speed INCREASES, the force of AIR RESISTANCE increases

→ after a while, the AIR RESISTANCE becomes the SAME SIZE as the as their WEIGHT

→ this means that the resultant force is now ZERO.

→ this means that they STOP ACCELERATING and they travel at a CONSTANT SPEED

= we call this TERMINAL VELOCITY