Terminal Velocity Calculator

Your details

The total mass of the falling object. Heavier objects fall faster before drag balances weight.
The frontal area the object presents to the airflow. Larger area means more drag and a lower terminal velocity.
Picking a shape fills in a typical drag coefficient. Choose Custom to type your own.
The medium the object falls through. Denser fluids create more drag and a lower terminal velocity.
Earth is 9.80665 m/s². Use 1.62 for the Moon, 3.71 for Mars, or 24.79 for Jupiter.
m/s²
Terminal velocity
42.78m/s
Kilometres per hour154km/h
Miles per hour95.7mph
Feet per second140.3ft/s
Time to reach 95% of terminal velocity8s
Distance fallen to reach 95%217m
Drag force at terminal velocity785N
42.78 m/s
Gentle (raindrop, parachute)<10Fast (free fall, belly down)10-60Extreme (head down, dense object)60+

Terminal velocity is 42.8 m/s (154 km/h, 96 mph).

  • At terminal velocity the air drag exactly equals weight, so net force is zero and the object falls at a constant speed.
  • It takes about 8.0 s and a drop of roughly 217 m to reach 95% of that speed (the approach is asymptotic, never quite 100%).
  • Terminal velocity scales with the square root of mass, so quadrupling the mass only doubles the steady speed.

Next stepSwitch the shape preset between belly down and head down, or change the fluid to water, to see how drag reshapes the result.

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