Physics Lab Air resistance

Feathers and bowling balls do indeed drop at different velocities,(on Earth but not on the moon
as the Apollo astronauts showed when they dropped a hammer and feather on national TV and we all
saw them reach the ground at the exact same time). On Earth there is another force at work besides
gravity. Air which is a viscous medium, offers resistance to movement as a function of the shape and
surface area presented by the falling object, and its velocity. When terminal velocity is reached the
result is a balanced condition where the force due to the friction of the air, is the same as the force due to
gravity (mg). When these forces balance, we have reached what is called a terminal velocity. Here when
the velocity is not increasing, we can say the the drag force due to air resistance is the same as the
gravitational force since there is no net force acting or it would accelerate (ie. change velocity). Newtons
second Law says that force(Newtons) = mass(Kg) * acceleration(m/s^2). So when you have reached
terminal velocity, the acceleration is 0 and the forces are balanced and cancel each other out. Watch the
streaming server video air res/coffee filters/mp4
This lab will use falling coffee filters to investigate : 1)the time it takes to reach terminal velocity,
2)the effect of the weight of the object on terminal velocity, and 3)an attempt to derive an equation for the
drag force of air resistance and how it is related to the terminal velocity for these specific objects.

- Plot drag force (m*g) at terminal velocity (Y axis) against terminal velocity (X axis) and
try regression equations until you get the closest fit. Each drop sheet 1-8 will have different masses
which will give different drag forces at different terminal velocities to balance the 2 forces (gravity and
air resistance).

Labs will be typed, will clearly explain your interpretation of the data , charts, graphs , whatever
is appropriate to that lab, and answer the basic questions raised in understanding that lab. The basic
questions of this lab are:
1) How does the drag force vary with velocity for coffee filters?
2)What determines how long it takes to get to the terminal velocity?
3)How does the mass of the falling object affect all this?
4)What is the best fit regression equation relating drag force to velocity?
5) Using your derived equation apply this concept to your car at 55 mph and 75mph . How much more
fuel would you use (%) to overcome the extra drag force?
6) many Physics texts give the formula for drag force as Force (newtons) = .5*c*p*A*v^2, where A is the
falling cross sectional area (m^2), c is a constant between .1 and 1 depending on shape, p is the density of
air (1.2 kg/m^3), v is the velocity in m/s. How close does this formula come to matching the data you
got ?
7) rework your regression equation to be a quadratic and calculate c (the coefficient of drag) given the
area of a coffee filter (radius is about 3.5 inches) and your regression equation. A well designed car will
get a c of 0.25.