Representing Terminal Velocity (AQA GCSE Physics)
Revision Note
Representing Terminal Velocity
A velocity-time graph can show how the velocity of an object changes in time as it reaches terminal velocity
There are characteristic features of all terminal velocity graphs:
The gradient (or slope) of a velocity-time graph represents the acceleration of the object
On any terminal velocity graph, the gradient (acceleration) will decrease from being very large down to zero
Sometimes the gradient is negative (i.e. showing deceleration, or slowing down)
Debbie the skydiver experiences a large deceleration (her speed decreases suddenly) as soon as she opens her parachute, because of a large resultant force upwards
The image above shows a skydiver slowing down, due to the large upwards resultant force acting on her
At this moment in time, the air resistance is larger than the skydiver's weight (due to the parachute's huge surface area)
This results in a large unbalanced force upwards, decelerating the skydiver's descent
The graph below summarises how a skydiver's velocity changes up to and following the point of opening a parachute:
Graph showing how the velocity of a skydiver changes during descent
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