Free Fall with Air Resistance Calculator
Calculate the terminal velocity and approximate fall time of an object falling through air, accounting for drag.
What This Calculates
When an object falls through air, drag force grows with speed until it balances gravity, producing a maximum falling speed called terminal velocity. This calculator estimates that speed and the approximate time to fall a given height.
The Formula
Terminal velocity: vt = √(2mg / (ρ·Cd·A)), where m is mass, g is gravitational acceleration, ρ is air density, Cd is drag coefficient, and A is cross-sectional area. Fall time accounting for drag uses t = (vt/g) × artanh(√(1 − e^(−2gh/vt²))), derived from the equations of motion under quadratic drag.
For general educational purposes; real falls are affected by orientation changes, wind, and varying air density with altitude.