This editor-recommended interactive tutorial from The Physics Classroom discusses why free falling objects fall with an acceleration of 9.8 m/s/s and explains the effect of air resistance of a falling object. It also explores why objects that encounter air resistance ultimately reach a terminal velocity. Students will be engaged by the simple language, informative graphics and interactive widgets. Several animations are linked to from this page.
See Related Materials for a link to an interactive Java simulation that will help students visualize what happens to free falling objects with and without the influence of air resistance.
6-8: 4F/M3a. An unbalanced force acting on an object changes its speed or direction of motion, or both.
9-12: 4F/H8. Any object maintains a constant speed and direction of motion unless an unbalanced outside force acts on it.
4G. Forces of Nature
6-8: 4G/M1. Every object exerts gravitational force on every other object. The force depends on how much mass the objects have and on how far apart they are. The force is hard to detect unless at least one of the objects has a lot of mass.
11. Common Themes
11B. Models
6-8: 11B/M1. Models are often used to think about processes that happen too slowly, too quickly, or on too small a scale to observe directly. They are also used for processes that are too vast, too complex, or too dangerous to study.
6-8: 11B/M5. The usefulness of a model depends on how closely its behavior matches key aspects of what is being modeled. The only way to determine the usefulness of a model is to compare its behavior to the behavior of the real-world object, event, or process being modeled.
<a href="https://www.compadre.org/precollege/items/detail.cfm?ID=11098">Henderson, Tom. Physics Classroom: Free Fall and Air Resistance. July 1, 2011.</a>
Henderson, T. (2011, July 1). Physics Classroom: Free Fall and Air Resistance. Retrieved April 4, 2025, from https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/newtlaws/U2L3e.cfm
Henderson, Tom. Physics Classroom: Free Fall and Air Resistance. July 1, 2011. https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/newtlaws/U2L3e.cfm (accessed 4 April 2025).
Henderson, Tom. Physics Classroom: Free Fall and Air Resistance. 1996. 1 July 2011. 4 Apr. 2025 <https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/newtlaws/U2L3e.cfm>.
@misc{
Author = "Tom Henderson",
Title = {Physics Classroom: Free Fall and Air Resistance},
Volume = {2025},
Number = {4 April 2025},
Month = {July 1, 2011},
Year = {1996}
}
%A Tom Henderson %T Physics Classroom: Free Fall and Air Resistance %D July 1, 2011 %U https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/newtlaws/U2L3e.cfm %O text/html
%0 Electronic Source %A Henderson, Tom %D July 1, 2011 %T Physics Classroom: Free Fall and Air Resistance %V 2025 %N 4 April 2025 %8 July 1, 2011 %9 text/html %U https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/newtlaws/U2L3e.cfm
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This Easy Java Simulation (EJS) explores the motion of free-falling objects with and without the influence of air resistance. It provides an opportunity for discovery learning.
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