Mistake Master
Mistake Master · AP Physics C · Unit 2 · Topic 2.9 · Step-Through Animation
The Fall That Stops Speeding Up
You'll learnwhy a falling object reaches terminal velocity as drag grows to balance weight.
A skydiver steps out and gravity does what gravity does — but the air answers back, harder the faster she goes. This is the unit’s differential-equation showcase: write m·dv/dt = mg − bv, read it like a sentence, and watch the curve it predicts flatten onto a speed limit it never crosses.
DRAG LAB
Before you start
What you're looking at
An 80 kg skydiver stepping out of a plane, falling down a corridor with a live speed readout beside her.
The question
Does her speed ever stop climbing, or does it grow at 10 m/s every second forever?
Watch for
The 'v = gt forever' story failing as drag grows to match weight and net force drops toward zero.
What the symbols mean
Down is positive, g = 10 m/s²; weight (ink) stays constant, drag (blue) opposes velocity, net force is amber; b = 16 kg/s.
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