Ace the 2025 Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Challenge – Tune Your Gears for Success!

Air resistance, also known as drag, acts in the opposite direction to the motion of falling objects. As an object falls, it encounters air molecules that collide with its surface, creating a force that opposes the force of gravity. This opposing force reduces the object’s overall acceleration compared to what would be expected if gravity were the only force acting on it.

In a vacuum, where no air resistance exists, all objects would fall at the same rate regardless of their mass. However, in the presence of air, as an object accelerates downward due to gravity, air resistance increases until it reaches a point where it balances the gravitational force. This point is known as terminal velocity, where the object stops accelerating and continues to fall at a constant speed.

Thus, air resistance serves to limit the acceleration of falling objects, preventing them from reaching the speeds they would gain if they fell without any air drag. Understanding this principle is essential in physics as it illustrates the complex interaction between gravity and drag forces.