28 Resultant Force and Terminal Velocit Resultant Force is Real Im, int — Fspecially for "F = ma" The notion of resultant force is @ real important one for you to get your head round. W's not especially tricky, it's just that it seems to ge? kind of ipnored. In most real situations there are at least two forces acting on an object along any direction. The overall affect of these forces will decide the motion of the object — whether i will accelerate, decelerate or ctay at a steedy speed. The "overall effect” is found by just adding or ubtracting the forces which point along the same direction. The overall force you get is celled the resultant force. ‘And when you use the formula "F = ma’, F rnust always be the resultant force. EXAMPLE: A car of mase of 1760kg has an engine which provides driving force of 5,200N. ‘At 70mph the drag force acting on the car is 5,150N. Find its acceleration a) when first setting off from rest b) at 7Omph. ANSWER: — I) First draw a force diagram for both cases (no need to show the vertical forces): nest <«<<—$§ € seyipe” Og S200N gp 2) Work out the resultant force in each case, and apply “F Using the formula triangle: Resultant force = 5,200N Resultant force = 5,200 - 5,150 a = F/m = 6,200+1750 = 3.0 m/s* 8 = F/m = 50 +1750 = 0.08 m/s’ Cars and Free-Fallers all Reach a Terminal Velocii When cars and free-flling objects first set off they have much more force accelerating them than resistance slowing them down. As the speed increases the resistance builds up. This gradually reduces the ‘agceleration until eventuslly the resistance force is equal to the accelerating force and then it won't be able to accelerate any more. It will have reached its maximum speed or terminal velocity. The Terminal Velocity of fallit their Shape and Are. The accelerating force acting on all falling objects is gravity and it would .. make therm all fall et the same rate, If if wasn't for ait resistance. To prove thio, on the moon, where there's no air, hamsters and feathers dropped simultaneously will bit nd together. However, on Earth, ait resistance causes things to fall at different speeds, and the ferminal velocity af any object is determined by its drag in... compatison to the weight of i. The dreg depends on its shape and area The most important example ic the human skydiver. Without his parachute open he has quite gmall area and a force of *W=mg" pulling him down. + | He reaches a terminal velocity of about 120mph. ‘age. But with the perachute open, there's much more ait resistance (at any given The difference is speed) and still only the same force “W=mg" pulling him down. the speed ot which This means hie terminal velocity comes right down to about 1Smpb, which Is that happens. Learning ab: ir resistance — it can be a real drag... It looks like mini-essay time to me. There's a lot of details swirling around here, so definitely the best way of checking how much you know is to scribble down a mini~eseay for each of the three sections. Then check back and see what you misse shen ry again sat keer tng 8 safe speed to hit the ground at. “Section Two — Forces and Motion