How Mass Affects Terminal Velocity.

The first 200 words of this essay...

How Mass Affects Terminal Velocity

Planning

Plan: In this investigation I am going to find out how the mass of an object affects its terminal velocity when it is falling. To do this I will drop a paper 'parachute' of given diameter from a given height each time changing its mass. I will measure the time taken for the parachute to fall a distance of 2 meters after allowing it to reach its terminal velocity over half a meter. I will start with a parachute of 10cm in diameter timing how long it takes to fall with no ballast then I shall increase the mass by 1 gram each time until I have added 5 grams of ballast. I decided to use these parameters after doing some preliminary testing.

To make this a fair test I shall have to keep all variables the same except the ballast. I will use the same parachute each time dropping it the same distance and timing it myself each time so that there will not be any difference in reaction times. I shall also repeat each parachute drop three times for each mass so to make my results more accurate