Transcript In free-fall, when there is no wind resistance, a speed

Math in the News
Felix Baumgartner plunged to
Earth in a dramatic supersonic
drop. He dropped from over
100,000 ft. and quickly
accelerated downward. But his
speed leveled off to what’s
known as the terminal velocity.
What is terminal velocity? In
this issue we look at the graphs
of objects in motion with and
without wind resistance to get a
better understanding of terminal
velocity.
Felix Baumgartner’s dramatic jump
broke the speed of sound.
Math in the News
Watch this video to see Baumgartner’s descent.
http://www.redbullstratos.com/gallery/?mediaId=media19027077390
01
Math in the News
This BBC article also
shows a graph of
descent.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ukengland-cambridgeshire19947060
Math in the News
In free-fall, when there
is no wind resistance,
a speed-vs-time graph
is parabolic. Speed is
constantly increasing.
Math in the News
The downward change
in speed (acceleration)
is due to the force of
gravity. Without an
opposing force, speed
increases
quadratically.
Math in the News
But the Earth’s
atmosphere provides
the opposing force,
slowing down the
downward motion. The
force of wind
resistance increases
as the speed of the
object increases.
Math in the News
With wind resistance,
eventually the
downward force and
the resisting force are
balanced, resulting in
a constant speed. This
is the terminal
velocity.