I asked a question like this a few days ago, and got nothing resembling consensus for an answer:
Imagine a frictionless world, that just happens to have a safe plummeting to the ground. The safe has a flat bottom which is perpendicular to the direction it is falling. Does the air impart a force on the safe opposite the direction of it's fall? What is that force called? Is it "air resistance"? If it is, is there a difference between air resistance and air friction, and what is it?
Thanks!
2006-11-28 09:50:54 · 2 answers · asked by chrissorry 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
You've presented a paradox: How can you have air friction in a frictionless world?
Air resistance and air friction are two terms for the same phenomena.
2006-11-28 10:29:23 · answer #1 · answered by Flyboy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Air resistance is friction. They are one in the same. So to answer your question, no you cannot have air resistance in a frictionless world.
2006-11-28 18:52:34 · answer #2 · answered by msi_cord 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋