Terminal Velocity

Lab Brief #6

🎯 Your mission

Set it up. Test it. Be amazed.

⚡ The twist

Energy never disappears — it just hides somewhere else.

What you'll learn

Terminal velocity is the steady top speed a falling object reaches when air resistance pushing up equals gravity pulling down. Once these forces balance, a skydiver stops speeding up and falls at a constant rate.

Key words

gravity
A force that pulls things down toward the Earth.
velocity
The speed of something moving in a certain direction.

Make a hypothesis first

Before you start: which will move faster, and why?

Say your guess out loud — then find out if you were right.

Get ready

🧰 What you need

weights
spring scale

⚠️ Safety first

Have an adult check your set-up before you start, and tidy everything away afterwards.

Step 1 of 4 · Read

Look at the vocabulary words and write a definition for each in your own words.

Step 2 of 4 · Do

Test friction: pull a weighted box across 4 surfaces (carpet, tile, sandpaper, foil). Use a spring scale to measure the force needed for each.

Step 3 of 4 · Observe

Look for patterns in your observations.

Step 4 of 4 · Record

Make a graph or chart showing your results.

Question 1 of 3

What is velocity?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 2 of 3

What is gravity?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 3 of 3

What causes an object to accelerate?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Mind = blown

🎢 You feel weightless on a roller coaster because you and the seat are falling at the same speed.

Nice work!

You got 0 of 3 right.

All lessons

🎯

Next Smart Experiment

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✨ More to explore

🌍 Where you see this in real life: This is why airplanes can fly and why rockets reach space.

🏆 Stretch challenge (try it this week): This week, find one thing in your house that turns one kind of energy into another.

👨‍👩‍👧 For the dinner table: “Show me something at home that uses this kind of energy.”

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