Air Resistance: It's All Around You! Quiz

Answer: fluid friction

Air resistance is fluid friction. Air resistance occurs between the surface of a falling object and the air that surrounds it. Rolling friction occurs when a rounded surface moves over a solid and sliding friction occurs when a solid moves over another solid. Static friction occurs when a solid touches another solid but there is no movement.

Answer: size and shape

Size and shape are the two factors that affect air resistance. Air resistance works with surface area, so the more surface area, the more air resistance. Think about when you drop two pieces of paper: one crumpled and one flat. The crumpled one falls faster because there is less air resistance acting on the paper.

Answer: Up

Air resistance pushes up while gravity attracts an object downwards. This is true for objects falling straight down. If the object was falling left or right, then air resistance would be opposite. If both gravity and air resistance pulled down, then air resistance wouldn't be air resistance! Air resistance is the opposite of gravity for an object falling down.

Answer: gravity

Gravity is the larger force. When a falling object is falling, it hits the ground, right? So gravity wins over air resistance. If air resistance was the greater force, then falling objects would just float in the air and never come down! Before terminal velocity, an object has gravity as the greater force.

For example, a skydiver: the diver falls (gravity is larger) until reaching terminal velocity (equal) then when the rip cord is pulled, air resistance is larger for a short time until the diver continues to fall and reaches terminal velocity again before the diver hits the ground.

Answer: The air resistance increases

The drag increases as the speed of an object increases. That means that there is more friction as an object gets faster. That's why when a space shuttle or rocket comes back down to earth, there has to be fireproof shields. The speed is so great that there is enough friction to start a fire.

Answer: gravity is the only force acting upon the object

When an object has no forces acting upon it other than gravity, the object is in free fall. The only time this would happen is if the object would be in a vacuum (i.e space). All objects would accelerate at the same rate, which is 9.8 m/s/s.

Answer: where all matter is removed

A vacuum is created when there is no air resistance (specifically, no air). A great example of a vacuum is space. If there was no air resistance in the world, every object would accelerate to the earth at 9.8 m/s/s, regardless of size and shape. A vacuum can also be created in a laboratory by taking a tube and sucking all of the air out of it, then dropping two objects inside.

They drop at the same rate.

Answer: terminal velocity

Terminal velocity is when an object stops accelerating. The net force of the air resistance and the gravity is equal to 0. Although the object will continue to fall, the object would now fall at a constant speed.

Answer: both they and the shuttle are in free fall

Astronauts are in free fall. When a shuttle is in orbit, the shuttle moves forward at a constant speed, but the force of gravity keeps the shuttle in free fall. This happens because the shuttle is in orbit.

Answer: 9.8 m/s/s

9.8 m/s/s, rounded to two significant figures, is the rate at which all objects accelerate towards earth. The objects accelerate regardless of shape or size. Galileo proved that all objects fall at the same rate by dropping two cannonballs of different masses off of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. He disproved the previously accepted theory by Aristotle, that mass is the leading factor of gravity. However, technically, they are both right: because of air resistance!

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