Air Resistance & Friction

Question 1

Ben watches three everyday situations: 1. A paper airplane glides across the playground and soon drops straight down. 2. A rubber ball rolls down a carpeted hallway and stops after a short distance. 3. A small toy boat moves across a bathtub filled with water and gradually slows. Which answer correctly matches each situation with the main resisting force and explains how that force slows the object?

Accepted Answer

1 – Air resistance pushes opposite the airplane’s motion, reducing its forward speed; 2 – Friction between the ball and carpet rubs against the ball, making it stop; 3 – Water resistance (drag) pushes against the boat’s hull, slowing it as it moves.

Answer

1 – Friction between the airplane’s paper and the air slows it; 2 – Air resistance slows the ball on the carpet; 3 – Friction between the boat’s hull and water slows it.

Answer

1 – Air resistance pushes opposite the plane’s motion, decreasing its speed; 2 – The ball slows because the carpet’s softness reduces gravity, not friction; 3 – Water resistance only works when the boat is fully underwater, so it does not affect the toy boat.

Answer

1 – The airplane slows because the wind pushes it backward; 2 – Friction only works on rough surfaces, so the smooth ball would not slow on carpet; 3 – Water resistance depends only on the boat’s color, not its movement.

Question 2

Which everyday example best illustrates water resistance acting on a moving object?

Accepted Answer

A swimmer moving through a pool

Answer

A kite soaring high in the sky

Answer

A sled sliding down a snowy hill

Answer

A car braking on a dry road

Question 3

Sam does three experiments. First, he slides a smooth metal ruler across a tabletop and it slows down. Second, he launches a paper airplane that soon drifts down and slows. Third, he pushes a small rubber boat across a swimming pool and it eventually stops. Which statement correctly describes the forces that cause each object to slow down?

Accepted Answer

Air resistance, water resistance, and friction are forces that act on moving objects and try to stop them; the ruler is slowed by friction, the airplane by air resistance, and the boat by water resistance.

Answer

Air resistance only works on objects in space, water resistance only works on objects under water, and friction only works on objects that are not moving.

Answer

Air resistance, water resistance, and friction are forces that help objects move faster; the ruler is slowed by water resistance, the airplane by friction, and the boat by air resistance.

Answer

Only friction can slow down objects; the airplane is slowed by friction, the ruler by friction, and the boat by friction.

Try three questions

Which everyday example best illustrates water resistance acting on a moving object?

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