Very Physically Physical Physics
Drag vs. Velocity!
We tested the drag force in terms of change in velocity of falling coffee filters.
Equipment
We used 5 coffee filters, a motion detector, and a stand in order to hold the motion detector.
Procedure
We massed and dropped various amounts of filters underneath a motion detector from approximately the same height. (i.e.: 1 filters, then 2 filters etc...) Using Distance Vs.Time data, we found where the line of the graph has a constant speed (straight line) because this is where the object reaches terminal velocity where drag force is equal to the weight. Using this area of data, we found the slope of the line to find velocity, and multiplied each mass by 9.8 to find the drag forse.
Data!
| terminal_velocity_data.xlsx |
| drag_vs_velocity_graph.xls |
Conclusion!
The drag force acting on the filter exponentially increases with the increased number of coffee filters that are dropped. The suggests that the drag force is directly related to the VELOCITY of the falling filters.
