investigating terminal velocity

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Science Coursework

In this experiment I am investigating terminal velocity using paper cake cases.   Terminal velocity is when two forces which are working against each, other on a moving object, are the same force. Therefore the object has reached its top speed as it will be unable 2 accelerate anymore, this is known as terminal velocity.

Planning

In this experiment I am planning on measuring the terminal velocity created by paper cake cases when dropped in the air. I will measure the case/cases from different heights and analyse whether these variables have an effect on the terminal velocity.

In this experiment there are several variables which can be changed in order to complete my investigation. However I will concentrate on two and use them as the variables which I will change. The possible variables are:

  • Height the paper case is dropped from
  • Weight of the paper case
  • Force the case is dropped with
  • Surface area / shape
  • Orientation
  • Indoor / outdoors
  • Environment e.g. windy

The two variables which I have chosen are the height the paper case is dropped from and the weight of the paper cake case. I have chosen these as I will hopefully be able to see clear correlation on my graphs by using these variables, therefore making them easier to analyse. During each experiment I will only be changing 1 variable and keeping all the others constant. This is so it is clear what effect the chosen variable has on the final results.

Prediction

I predict that when the single paper cake case is dropped from different heights as the height increases so will the time taken for the object to reach terminal velocity and hit the floor. I believe this will happen as the paper cake case will have more time to reach terminal velocity as it is travelling a further distance for the two forces working on it to equal each other out.

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For the second test, where we increase the weight by using more than one paper case I predict that the heavier the object is the quicker it will drop to the floor. This is because the downward force will be much stronger at the start as the extra weight applied. Therefore even as the air resistance equals out the paper cases will be moving at a quicker terminal velocity than they previously were with less weight.

Measurements

In order to make sure that my results are reliable I will repeat each test 3 times. This is so that ...

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