What speed does the water fall at?

by john
(scotland)

What speed does the water fall at?

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What speed does the water fall at?

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Mar 03, 2012
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starstarstarstarstar 		Gravity times height
by: World of Waterfalls

Ben,

Actually, gravity accelerates objects that are falling. So 32ft/s^2 or 9.8m/s^2 isn't really the speed (unless it fell frictionless for 1s in which the speed would be 32ft/s or 9.8m/s assuming the object began falling from a non-moving state - something that's rare in a stream).

I'd say the taller the waterfall, the greater the speed the objects (in this case droplets) are falling. I'm sure it hits a point where resistance cancels a good deal of the acceleration resulting in a terminal speed or velocity.

Maybe even the water chunks break apart into smaller droplets which are even more prone to resistance and eventually "disappear" as mist.

To make a long story short, it really depends on the height, slope, and volume of the falls. And even if we picked on a particular waterfall, I'm not quite sure how you'd measure it.
Mar 03, 2012
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starstarstar 		Speed of Gravity
by: Ben

All falling objects fall at 32 ft/sec^2 (9.8m/sec^2). It is the rate of gravity. It might depend on the air resistance, but that would only have a minimal effect.

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