Termin

When an object just starts

al to fall from above the Earth, the only
force acting on it is its own weight, which accelerates it towards
the Earth. As it gains
speed, air resistance begins to act in the
Velocit
opposite direction, reducing the resultant force.
As with all objects, eventually
the weight and air resistance
y
forces are balanced. The resultant force on the object is then
zero, so it will stop accelerating. It will travel at a constant
velocity, called the terminal velocity.
An example of this would be a feather and a coin: The feather
and the coin have roughly the same surface area, so when they
begin to fall they have about the same air resistance.
As the feather falls, its air resistance increases until it soon
balances the weight of the feather. The feather now falls at its
terminal velocity. But the coin is much heavier, so it has to travel
quite fast before air resistance is large enough to balance its
weight. In fact, it probably hits the ground before it reaches its
terminal velocity.