The Student Room Group
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>

Terminal Velocity affected by factors

I did an experiment of dropping a parachute from a height, to see how terminal velocity is affected by various factors.

One of the factors I changed was the length of the string holding the weight to the actual parachute. I noticed that as the length of the string increases, the terminal velocity decreases. However, I am unsure as to why that is?
I don't know for sure but I'd guess that further above the weight there is less turbulent air so the parachute is more efficient at generating drag. I could well be wrong, but that's the first thing that sprung to mind.
Yes. It would help to know, if this is the case, the size of the weight, the size of the parachute and the length of the string.
Reply 3
Avatar for lerjj
lerjj
13
Original post by shivishivi
I did an experiment of dropping a parachute from a height, to see how terminal velocity is affected by various factors.

One of the factors I changed was the length of the string holding the weight to the actual parachute. I noticed that as the length of the string increases, the terminal velocity decreases. However, I am unsure as to why that is?


How significant is the change?

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you