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Terminal Velocity and Drag with Coffee Filters

Drop stacks of coffee filters, measure their steady fall speed, and show how air drag grows with speed.

Grade 12ExperimentScience OlympiadScienceMathPhysicsData AnalysisMeasurementAdvanced1 to 1.7 hr5 materials

What you'll learn

  • Explain terminal velocity as a balance of weight and drag
  • Measure velocity from timing or video
  • Linearize data by plotting v squared against mass

Objective

Measure the terminal velocity of coffee filters of different mass and test whether drag force is proportional to the square of speed.

STEM concepts

Air dragTerminal velocityForce balanceQuadratic drag
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