Baumgartner's Terminal Velocity
Most recent answer: 10/15/2012
Q:
How is it possible for Felix Baumgartner to claim that he reached more than the speed of sound in a freefall dive on October 12, 2012. Was I asleep in Physics classes and only dreamed that terminal velocity of a falling body was at best around 135 MPH.
- Mike Hopper (age 67)
Greenfield, Indiana USA
- Mike Hopper (age 67)
Greenfield, Indiana USA
A:
That's a reasonable value for a person's terminal velocity in air at sea-level. The density of the air, however, falls off exponentially with height. Thus the terminal velocity was much higher in the higher part of his fall.
Mike W.
Mike W.
(published on 10/15/2012)