Science
What is Terminal velocity?
Terminal velocity is the fastest speed a falling object reaches, when the air resistance pushing up exactly balances gravity pulling down. At that point it stops accelerating and falls at a steady speed — which is why a skydiver doesn't keep speeding up forever.
See it, don’t just read it.
Watch a 2-minute lesson with voice + animation that explains terminal velocity.
Key things to understand
- 1Gravity pulls a falling object down, speeding it up.
- 2Air resistance grows with speed, pushing back harder the faster you fall.
- 3When the two forces balance, acceleration stops and speed stays constant.
- 4Lighter or more spread-out objects have a lower terminal velocity.
- 5A skydiver hits about 200 km/h spread-eagled, far less under a parachute.
Frequently asked questions
- Why doesn't a falling object keep speeding up?
- Air resistance increases with speed until it cancels gravity; once balanced, there's no net force, so speed holds steady.
- How does a parachute lower terminal velocity?
- It hugely increases air resistance, so the balance with gravity is reached at a much slower, safe speed.
- Do heavy and light objects have the same terminal velocity?
- No — shape and weight matter. A feather and a stone fall together only in a vacuum, where there's no air resistance.