How does air resistance affect falling objects? Why do heavier objects sometimes fall faster in air?

• A. Air resistance does not affect acceleration.
• B. Heavier objects always fall slower than lighter ones.
• C. Air resistance opposes motion and increases with speed; heavier objects reach higher terminal speeds because weight is greater relative to drag.
• D. Terminal velocity is the same for all objects regardless of mass.

Answer: (C)

When an object falls through air, gravity pulls downward while air resistance (drag) pushes upward. Drag grows as speed increases, so the downward acceleration gets smaller and eventually drops to zero at terminal velocity. This happens because the drag force balances the weight.

If two objects have similar shapes, the heavier one has more weight (mg) but the drag at a given speed is roughly the same. To balance a larger weight, the heavier object must reach a higher speed before drag can match weight. That higher speed is its terminal velocity. So heavier objects reach a higher terminal velocity and therefore can fall faster in air than lighter ones, even though both eventually settle into a constant speed.