How Do Terminal Velocity and Drag Influence an Object's Fall Through Fluids?

[KaranND]

hey,everyone,could you please explain to me the terms Terminal Velocity and Drag in detail,as my exams are coming up.

 

[mathman]

Drag: When an object moves through a fluid (e.g. air or water) there is resistance to the motion (you should look in your text for details). This resistance (force) is called drag.

When something is falling to the Earth through the air, there are essentially two forces acting on it, gravity pulling it down and drag holding it back. Terminal velocity is the speed the object attains when these forces are equal, so the speed is constant.