What is the Velocity of a Falling Body with Friction in Freefall?

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around the dynamics of a small body in freefall, specifically analyzing the effects of air resistance modeled as a quadratic function of velocity. The original poster presents a scenario where the body is dropped from an infinite height, and the challenge is to determine its velocity after an infinite amount of time, considering the forces acting on it.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Mathematical reasoning

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster attempts to apply Newton's second law to derive the body's acceleration and questions how to integrate the acceleration given its dependence on velocity. They also consider the implications of limits in their calculations.
  • Another participant suggests setting the acceleration to zero to find the terminal velocity, indicating a potential stable state in the system.

Discussion Status

The discussion is ongoing, with participants exploring different approaches to the problem. Some guidance has been offered regarding the concept of terminal velocity, but no explicit consensus or resolution has been reached yet.

Contextual Notes

Participants are navigating the complexities of differential equations and the implications of air resistance on motion. The original poster expresses uncertainty about the integration process and the need for limits, highlighting the challenges posed by the problem's setup.

devanlevin
a small body, with the mass of M is dropped from an infinite height falling freefall, the air's friction on the body is defined by ==>f=-kv^2, k=const.
find the velocity after an infinite amount of time.

using Newtons 2nd law,
F=ma=mg-kv^2
a=g-(kv^2)/m

now, how do i find the velocity, i thought of integratning the acceleration, but i have a dependence on v in the acceleration..
aat first i thought it was meant to be a=g-(kt^2)/m
the answer is

v(t=>inf)---->sqrt(mg/k)
do i need to work with limits to reach this?? what must i do?
 
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[itex] m \ddot{y} = -mg + k \dot{y}^2[/itex]

with messy differential equations we can still often get stable state information out which is nice. The stable state will be when the mass is no longer accelerating any longer (it's hit terminal velocity). So set
[itex] \ddot{y} = 0[/itex]
and see what you get!
 


thanx
 


np man, glad I could help
 

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