Question

510 g squirrel with a surface area of 935 cm2 falls from a 4.8-m tree to the ground. Estimate its terminal velocity. (Use the drag coefficient for a horizontal skydiver. Assume that the squirrel can be approximated as a rectanglar prism with cross-sectional area of width 11.6 cm and length 23.2 cm. Note, the squirrel may not reach terminal velocity by the time it hits the gr

Answer 1

Answer:

The terminal velocity is $v_t =17.5 \ m/s$

Explanation:

From the question we are told that

       The mass of the squirrel is  $m_s = 50\ g = \frac{50}{1000} = 0.05 \ kg$

      The surface area is   $A_s = 935 cm^2 = \frac{935}{10000} = 0.0935 \ m^2$

       The height of fall is  h =4.8 m

        The length of the prism is $l = 23.2 = 0.232 \ m$

          The width of the prism is $w = 11.6 = 0.116 \ m$

 

The terminal velocity is mathematically represented as

       $v_t = \sqrt{\frac{2 * m_s * g }{\dho_s * C * A } }$

Where $\rho$  is the density of a rectangular prism with a constant values of $\rho = 1.21 \ kg/m^3$

            $C$ is the drag coefficient for a horizontal skydiver with a value = 1

            A  is the area of the prism the squirrel is assumed to be which is mathematically represented as

      $A = 0.116 * 0.232$

       $A = 0.026912 \ m^2$

 substituting values

      $v_t = \sqrt{\frac{2 * 0.510 * 9.8 }{1.21 * 1 * 0.026912 } }$

     $v_t =17.5 \ m/s$