Free AP Physics C lesson

Air Resistance & Falling Objects

This AP Physics C: Mechanics lesson is designed for AP Physics C self-study. It includes 2 video lessons, 4 practice questions, and an estimated completion time of 16 minutes.

Video lessons

  1. Objects Falling With Air Resistance

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  2. Objects Falling With Air Resistance (part 2)

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Practice covered

  1. For an object falling through air at low speeds, the air resistance force is modeled as F_air = -bv. What does the negative sign indicate?
  2. An object falling through air reaches terminal velocity when air resistance equals the gravitational force. Express terminal velocity (v_terminal) in terms of mass (m), gravitational acceleration (g), and drag coefficient (b).
  3. A 2.0 kg object falls from rest through air with drag coefficient b = 4.0 kg/s. What is the terminal velocity (in m/s)?
  4. After solving the differential equation for an object falling with air resistance from rest, the velocity as a function of time is v(t) = mg / bleft(1 - e^-b / mtright). What happens to velocity as t to infty?
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