Re: timing data for falling objects

[Hugh Haskell <hhaskell@MINDSPRING.COM>]

At 23:22 -0700 07/05/2002, Bernard Cleyet wrote:
> This reminds me of (most of you have done this) using coffee filters and a
> sonic ranger.  I've only watched it done, so I don't know how many filters
> are necessary to make the time to reach terminal speed conveniently long.
About six should give you a reasonable runup to terminal velocity,
but it's close. Actually, this is a pretty good way to do it,
especially if you can get the drop point up high enough that there is
a reasonable fall. But it's not the same as doing it with something
heavy, or at least heavier, and seeing that the same thin happens as
with the coffee filters.

But if you do both, you can see that the drag force law scales as the
cross-sectional area, with only a small dependence on the shape and
the material. That's worth seeing.

Hugh
--

Hugh Haskell
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<mailto://hhaskell@mindspring.com>

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