The emphasis in this is on free-falling bodies.

Previously, we worked with

simple theoretical models leading to such equations as
v
y

=-gt
and
y = -1/2g t
2

.
These
equations, of course, ignore air resistance.
The reason our simple analysis succeeded is that our falling objects (golf
balls, for
example) were so dense and heavy, and moved at such low speeds, that the
drag force
due to their motion through the
air was very much smaller th
an the force of
gravity on
them. At increasingly high velocities, the ai
r drag would become la
rger and larger, and
would no longer be negligible in comparison to
mg
.
This week we will use the same camera setups to explore the behavior of
light
objects –
so light that the air drag forces as th
ey accelerate will become comparable to
mg
. We
32

will let the bodies drop vertic

ally, so that there is no
x-
component of their motion to
complicate things for us.
Immediately after being released from rest
, even a light falling body will accelerate
according to the simple formulas used previously. This fact follows simply
from the
assumption that viscous drag forces are zero
if the velocity of the body is zero, and rise
smoothly as the body's speed increases.
As a vertically falling body accelerates, the drag force increases gradually,
and always
acts in the opposite direction
to the velocity of the body.
For a body moving vertically,
the net force which it experiences is the usual
mg
, acting downward, plus the oppositely-
directed viscous drag force, which we will call
f
v

. The equation of motion becomes

ma
y

=f
total

=-mg+f
v

,
where we have taken the - axis of our
coordinate system to be pointing upward
(i.e.,
opposite to the direction of gravity).
At some speed, the drag force
f
v

will be equal
to the weight
mg
, and the total force on the
body will be zero. After this, it will no longer ac
celerate. The resulting constant speed is
called the terminal velocity
. It is approached on
ly gradually, of course.
The goal of this lab is to study the behavior
of a very light fa
lling object, and to
demonstrate the full range of behavior as it starts from rest, increases
speed, and
approaches terminal velocity. From this, we
can learn something a
bout the drag force,
f
v

.
In particular, we expect you to
be able to reach some conc
lusions about how the air drag
depends on the velocity of the falling object.
This write-up for lab #3 is much shorter than
for the previous labs. As you get more
comfortable with the equipment, we’re leavi
ng more of the thinki
ng to you. Take some
initiative on your own to try things out.
Remember to keep a good record of your work
in your lab notebook.