Drag forces

Remove the forward force of an object, and the object stops, and the forces are no longer balanced. The resultant force would know be zero and the object would accelerate backwards, and would slow down and stop. So why doesnt an object start moving backwards once its stopped. This is because of the way drag forces work. Drag forces are made up of two types air resistance and friction, both due to matter in contact with other mater. Where two solid surfaces rub on each other, friction always occurs. Even though they may appear perfectly smooth, the surfaces in contact are slightly rough. It is this roughness that is the cause of friction, as the two surfaces rub over one another. This frictional force acts simply to oppose any motion that takes place it cannot actually cause motion, as you will see if you think about the cause of the force. When an object comes to rest, the frictional force stops acting it will only become important again when the object begins to move again. Air resistance The other drag force is air resistance or aerodynamic drag, which is caused when an object moves through air. Aerodynamic drag is caused by the fact that an object has to push air out of the way in order to move through it and this requires a force. Friction is not affect by speed but air resistance does depend on the speed the faster the object moves, the greater the air resistance. Because air resistance increases an objects velocity also increases. Free fall and terminal velocity Someone who jumps out of a plane or parachutes accelerates towards the ground because of his weight. They will suffer air resistance at start but it will be small, but when the velocity increases the air resistance increases which then balances out and creates a terminal velocity. (The peak)