[Math] How long does the ball take to reach half of its terminal velocity

ordinary differential equationsphysics

A ball of mass m = 0.1kg falls from rest under the influence of gravity (on
earth) in a medium that provides resistance that is proportional to its velocity. For a velocity of
0.2 m/s, the resistance force on the object is measured to be 1N.

How long does the ball take to reach half of its terminal velocity?

I found the terminal velocity to be -.0196 m/s but I am not sure how to model the velocity equation to solve for time t when the velocity is half of my terminal velocity. Thank you!

Best Answer

By Newton's second law (rate of change of momentum is equal to net force applied),

$$m \frac{dv}{dt} = mg - \alpha v$$; $\alpha $ is a constant, $\alpha v$ is the resisitive force.

Integrate w.r.t. time to get $v$ in terms of $t$.

$v|_{t = 0} = 0$ and $v|_{t \to \infty} = v_t$, terminal velocity is attained when $\frac{dv}{dt} = 0$, i.e. $v_t = \frac{mg}{\alpha}$

$m \int_{0}^{\frac{v_t}{2}} \frac{dv}{mg - \alpha v} = \int_{0}^{t_0}dt\quad$; $t_0$ is the required time.

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