Exploration 5.6: Air Friction

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Two identical balls are dropped. The one on the left is in a resistive medium represented by varying shades of blue.  The resistive force is represented as b vⁿ, where b is a constant between 0 and 2 and n is an integer between 0 and 2 (note that as you vary n, the units of b also change).   Restart.

Select values for b and n, and then click on a graph link to show the motion and that particular graph.  When you get a good-looking graph, right-click on it to clone the graph and resize it for a better view.

1. How does your choice of n (0, 1, 2) affect the unit of b?
2. For b = 1, how does your choice of n (0, 1, 2) affect the position vs. time graph?
3. For b = 1, how does your choice of n (0, 1, 2) affect the velocity vs. time graph?
4. For b = 1, how does your choice of n (0, 1, 2) affect the acceleration vs. time graph?
5. For b = 1, how does your choice of n (0, 1, 2) affect the terminal velocity?

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