... affects the rate of descent, is air resistance. Newton's second law of motion states that the acceleration an object experiences multiplied by the mass of the object is equal to the net force acting on the object. Thus, if a given force acts on two objects of different mass, the object with the larger mass will have a lower acceleration. In the case of my experiment, the rate of descent on my helicopter, multiplied by the mass of my helicopter is equal to the total amount of forces acting on it. If the forces acting on my helicopter give a net force which is zero, then my helicopter will not accelerate, it will continue moving at a constant velocity. The forces on an object falling at terminal velocity are balanced. Terminal velocity occurs when the weight of an object is balanced by the drag. Drag depends on the speed ...

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