This common misconceptions covers Common Misconceptions within Terminal Velocity for GCSE Physics. Revise Terminal Velocity in Extra Topics for GCSE Physics with 13 exam-style questions and 11 flashcards. Use this page as part of a wider topic revision path rather than treating it as an isolated fact. It is section 8 of 13 in this topic. Use this common misconceptions to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
⚠️ Common Misconceptions
Misconception 1: "At terminal velocity, there are no forces acting"
This is incorrect. At terminal velocity there are still two forces acting — weight (downward) and drag (upward). What has changed is that they are equal in size, so the resultant force is zero. The forces haven't disappeared; they've balanced out.
Misconception 2: "Terminal velocity means the object has stopped moving"
Terminal velocity is a constant velocity, not zero velocity. The object is still falling — it has simply stopped accelerating. A skydiver at terminal velocity is still travelling at 55 m/s, which is very fast indeed.
Misconception 3: "Heavier objects always fall faster"
In a vacuum (no air), all objects fall at the same rate regardless of mass (the famous Galileo result — proved on the Moon by Apollo 15). In air, heavier objects do have a higher terminal velocity, but this is because they need more drag to balance their greater weight — the effect only shows up because of air resistance.
Misconception 4: "The gradient of a distance-time graph gives acceleration"
The gradient of a distance-time graph gives speed. You need a velocity-time graph to read off acceleration from the gradient. These are two very different graphs and are frequently confused in exams.
Practice questions for Terminal Velocity
An object reaches terminal velocity when falling through air. Which statement correctly describes the forces at terminal velocity?
Explain how a skydiver reaches terminal velocity after jumping from a plane. Include changes to forces and acceleration in your answer.