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Modelling air resistance
By Brad Rodgers (P1930) on Thursday, July 13, 2000 - 05:50 am:

Is there a simple way to calculate the amount of horizontal distance an object can travel in air resistance given it was launched at velocity V and at angle A?
I know how to figure the amount of distance traveled if there is no air, but it seems like there are two many variables to come up with a simple way to do so with air.

Thanks,

Brad

By Dan Goodman (Dfmg2) on Thursday, July 13, 2000 - 11:54 am:

There are three standard ways to model friction that I know of; constant, linear and quadratic. The constant model is only appropriate if the object is moving very slowly, the linear model for faster objects, and the quadratic model for very fast moving objects I think (it models movement in turbulent flow I seem to remember). Anyway, if v is the velocity vector, and F is the frictional force, then these are the models:

constant: F=k for some vector k
linear: F=-kv for some scalar k
quadratic: F=-kv|v| for some scalar k

I suggest using the linear model of friction for your example, as it will probably be the easiest to calculate with.