What is meant by terminal velocity?

It is the constant maximum velocity of a falling body, reached when the drag force has grown until it balances the weight so that the resultant force and the acceleration are zero.

What is the shape of the velocity-time graph for an object falling until it reaches terminal velocity?

It begins as a straight line of gradient 9.81 m s⁻², then curves with a steadily decreasing gradient, and finally levels off into a horizontal line at the terminal velocity.

What happens to a skydiver's motion in the moments after the parachute opens?

The drag force becomes much larger than the weight, so there is a large upward resultant force and the skydiver decelerates rapidly to a new, much lower terminal velocity.

A person of mass 70 kg stands in a lift that is accelerating upwards at 1.5 m s⁻². What is the normal contact force from the floor on the person?

The resultant force is upwards, so N − mg = ma, giving N = 70 × (9.81 + 1.5) = 792 N.

How can the acceleration of a freely-falling object be determined using an electromagnet, a steel ball and an electronic timer?

The electromagnet holds the ball and starts the timer as it is switched off, the ball falls a measured height h and stops the timer as it lands, and g is found from h = ½gt².

Edexcel A-Level Physics 9PH0

Working as a Physicist

Topic overview SI base units, derived units and homogeneity Unit prefixes, conversion and order-of-magnitude estimates Resolution, random errors and systematic errors Uncertainty and how uncertainties combine Improving measurements, graphs and evaluating results Peer review, publication and scientific integrity Risk, benefit and the role of science in society

Mechanics

Topic overview The equations of uniformly accelerated motion Displacement-time and velocity-time graphs Scalars and vectors Resolving vectors and finding resultants Projectile motion Free-body diagrams and Newton's first and second laws Newton's third law, mass and weight Terminal velocity and measuring g by free fall Linear momentum and its conservation Elastic and inelastic collisions in one dimension The moment of a force Centre of gravity, equilibrium and the principle of moments Work done by a force Kinetic and gravitational potential energy Conservation of energy and dissipation Power, and the equation P = Fv Efficiency and wasted energy

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Topic overview Current, charge and potential difference Resistance, Ohm's law and ohmic behaviour Electrical power and energy Kirchhoff's laws: the current and potential difference rules Combining resistances in series and parallel Circuit calculations, meters and component failure I-V characteristics of conductors, lamps and diodes Thermistors, light dependent resistors and resistance change Resistivity and determining it experimentally Charge carriers, drift velocity and I = nqvA The potential divider equation and the loading effect Sensing circuits with thermistors and light dependent resistors Electromotive force, internal resistance and lost volts Measuring e.m.f. and internal resistance, and cells in combination

Materials

Topic overview Density and how it is measured Upthrust and Archimedes' principle Floating, sinking and upthrust calculations Viscosity, laminar flow and Stokes' law Terminal velocity of a sphere falling through a liquid Measuring viscosity by the falling-ball method Hooke's law, stress and strain The Young modulus and calculations with it Determining the Young modulus of a wire Force-extension graphs, elastic and plastic deformation Stress-strain graphs, ductile and brittle materials Elastic strain energy

Waves and Particle Nature of Light

Topic overview Describing a progressive wave The wave equation and its use Longitudinal and transverse waves Displacement-distance and displacement-time graphs Measuring the speed of sound with an oscilloscope Wavefronts, superposition and phase Coherence, path difference and phase difference Interference in practice Stationary waves, nodes and antinodes Harmonics on a stretched string Investigating a vibrating string, and air columns Intensity, the inverse square law and refractive index Refraction, wave speed and the critical angle Total internal reflection and measuring refractive index Lenses, ray diagrams and the images they form Lens power and the thin lens equation Lens calculations and magnification Reflection, transmission and the pulse-echo principle Pulse-echo calculations, resolution and ultrasound Polarisation and diffraction Single-slit patterns and the diffraction grating equation Grating spectra and measuring wavelength Electron diffraction and the de Broglie equation de Broglie calculations and wave-particle duality Photons and photon energy Models of light and the electronvolt Line spectra and atomic energy levels The photoelectric effect and Einstein's equation Evidence for the photon model and photoelectric calculations

Further Mechanics

Topic overview Impulse and force-time graphs Conservation of momentum in two dimensions Investigating momentum and analysing collisions on video Elastic and inelastic collisions Kinetic energy, momentum and collision calculations The radian, angular displacement and angular velocity Angular velocity, period and frequency of rotation Centripetal acceleration Centripetal force and what provides it Vertical loops and centripetal force calculations

Electric and Magnetic Fields

Topic overview Electric fields and electric field strength Field strength calculations and field diagrams Coulomb's law and the field of a point charge Inverse-square behaviour and combining fields Electric potential and field strength as a potential gradient Uniform fields between parallel plates, and the potential near a point charge Equipotentials, field diagrams and work done Capacitance and the energy stored in a capacitor Capacitor charge and energy calculations Charging and discharging graphs and the time constant The exponential decay equations and logarithmic graphs Investigating capacitor discharge and time-constant calculations Magnetic flux density, flux and flux linkage Forces on currents and moving charges The conditions for inducing an e.m.f.Faraday's law and Lenz's law Flux linkage graphs and induced e.m.f. calculations Alternating current, peak and r.m.s. values Oscilloscope traces and alternating current calculations

Nuclear and Particle Physics

Topic overview Nuclide notation, isotopes and the alpha scattering experiment Conclusions from alpha scattering and the changing model of the atom Thermionic emission and linear accelerators The cyclotron and the radius of a charged particle's path Particle tracks, conservation laws and why high energies are needed Mass-energy equivalence, pair production and annihilation Particle energy units and relativistic lifetimes Baryons, mesons, leptons and quark composition The six quarks, antiparticles and fundamental particles Conservation of charge, baryon number and lepton number Quark changes in beta decay and testing particle equations

Thermodynamics

Topic overview Specific heat capacity and specific latent heat Measuring specific heat capacity and calibrating a thermistor Measuring specific latent heat Internal energy, temperature and absolute zero Mean kinetic energy and the absolute temperature scale The kinetic theory equation and its derivation The ideal gas equation and molecular kinetic energy Boyle's law and investigating a fixed mass of gas Black body radiation and Wien's law The Stefan-Boltzmann law and stellar calculations

Space

Topic overview Luminosity, intensity and the inverse square law Trigonometric parallax and standard candles The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram The life cycle of stars The Doppler effect and redshift Hubble's law and the age of the universe Dark matter and the fate of the universe

Nuclear Radiation

Topic overview Mass deficit, binding energy and the atomic mass unit Binding energy per nucleon, fission and fusion Background radiation and the three types of nuclear radiation Ionising power, penetration and changes in the nucleus Nuclear equations and investigating gamma absorption Activity, the decay constant and half-life Decay graphs and half-life calculations

Gravitational Fields

Topic overview Gravitational fields and gravitational field strength The field of a point mass and calculations with g Newton's law of universal gravitation Orbital speed, period and geostationary satellites Gravitational potential and potential energy Comparing gravitational and electric fields

Oscillations

Topic overview The conditions for simple harmonic motion Displacement, velocity and acceleration in simple harmonic motion The mass-spring oscillator and the simple pendulum Displacement, velocity and acceleration graphs Reading period, amplitude and speed from oscillation graphs Energy in an undamped oscillation Damping and where the energy goes Free and forced oscillations and resonance Resonance in practice and determining an unknown mass

Mechanics

Terminal velocity and measuring g by free fall

2 things to know
Papers 1 and 3

Overview

Recall questions on how a skydiver's acceleration changes, the shape of the velocity-time graph, and the electromagnet and light-gate determination of g.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started

Evaluation

In the free-fall determination of g, why is a graph of height against t² plotted, and why is an electromagnet with electronic timing used?

Numbers

How does the acceleration of a skydiver change from the moment of jumping until terminal velocity is reached?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
What is meant by terminal velocity?
Model answer
It is the constant maximum velocity of a falling body, reached when the drag force has grown until it balances the weight so that the resultant force and the acceleration are zero.
2
How does the acceleration of a skydiver change from the moment of jumping until terminal velocity is reached?
Model answer
At first only the weight acts, so the acceleration is 9.81 m s⁻²; as the speed rises the drag force grows, reducing the resultant force and so the acceleration, until drag equals weight and the acceleration falls to zero.
3
What is the shape of the velocity-time graph for an object falling until it reaches terminal velocity?
Model answer
It begins as a straight line of gradient 9.81 m s⁻², then curves with a steadily decreasing gradient, and finally levels off into a horizontal line at the terminal velocity.
4
What happens to a skydiver's motion in the moments after the parachute opens?
Model answer
The drag force becomes much larger than the weight, so there is a large upward resultant force and the skydiver decelerates rapidly to a new, much lower terminal velocity.
5
A person of mass 70 kg stands in a lift that is accelerating upwards at 1.5 m s⁻². What is the normal contact force from the floor on the person?
Model answer
The resultant force is upwards, so N − mg = ma, giving N = 70 × (9.81 + 1.5) = 792 N.
6
How can the acceleration of a freely-falling object be determined using an electromagnet, a steel ball and an electronic timer?
Model answer
The electromagnet holds the ball and starts the timer as it is switched off, the ball falls a measured height h and stops the timer as it lands, and g is found from h = ½gt².

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