Terminal velocity is the maximum velocity attainable by an object as it falls through air. Since the drag force of air increases with the increasing falling velocity, the object will reach its terminal velocity during a fall and then remain at that velocity. Unfortunately, cats fall out of windows in cities sometimes. A famous article, in The New York Times notes that the likelihood that a cat survives a fall goes down as the fall distance increases (expected) but then goes back up at very large distances (perhaps unexpected). If the statistics are correct, then there should be some physical reason this occurs. Some have suggested that terminal velocity and cat biology come into play. The article above indicates that cats have a terminal velocity of 60 miles per hour (mph). If we model the drag force Fd (N) on a cat as Fd = 1/2 kAV2 where A is the cross-sectional area of the cat (assuming it is a cylindrical shape), V is its velocity and k=1 kg/m3, Calculate the cross-sectional area in m2 of a 5 kg cat with a terminal velocity of 60 mph? The gravitational acceleration g= 9.8m/s2, 1 mile = 1600m.
Terminal velocity is the maximum velocity attainable by an object as it falls through air. Since the drag force of air increases with the increasing falling velocity, the object will reach its terminal velocity during a fall and then remain at that velocity.
Unfortunately, cats fall out of windows in cities sometimes. A famous article, in The New York Times notes that the likelihood that a cat survives a fall goes down as the fall distance increases (expected) but then goes back up at very large distances (perhaps unexpected). If the statistics are correct, then there should be some physical reason this occurs. Some have suggested that terminal velocity and cat biology come into play. The article above indicates that cats have a terminal velocity of 60 miles per hour (mph).
If we model the drag force Fd (N) on a cat as
Fd = 1/2 kAV2
where A is the cross-sectional area of the cat (assuming it is a cylindrical shape), V is its velocity and k=1 kg/m3,
Calculate the cross-sectional area in m2 of a 5 kg cat with a terminal velocity of 60 mph? The gravitational acceleration g= 9.8m/s2, 1 mile = 1600m.
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