Past exam of the physics 1 paper of the University of Oxford / 2021 / 2

Take downward distance $s$ and downward speed $v=ds/dt\ge 0$, with constant gravitational acceleration $g>0$ and quadratic drag coefficient $k>0$. The printed vector square has no standard vector meaning; the directionally consistent drag force is ${\mathbf{F}}_d=-mk|\mathbf{v}|\mathbf{v}$. For this downward fall, Newton's second law becomesThe terminal velocity is obtained by setting the net force to zero:From rest, the speed increases monotonically towards this limiting value. In fact $v(t)=v_{\infty }\tanh (\sqrt{gk}t)$; thus it is a supremum approached at infinite time, and a tower of finite height need not permit it to be reached.

For the required distance, use the chain rule $dv/dt=vdv/ds$. Writing $w=v^2$ gives a linear ordinary differential equation:Consequently,Here $k$ has units of inverse length, so the result has the required units of distance and is independent of the falling mass.