Terminal Velocity of a Sphere in Liquid

Quantifying the settling velocity (terminal velocity) of a spherical particle in a liquid is of importance because it relates to areas in industry that process and transport suspensions of particles. Typical applications include pharmaceutical manufacturing, wastewater treatment, semiconductor processing and oil and gas extraction. The objective of the experiment described is for students to perform a terminal velocity experiment to aid in their ability to understand that velocity is the slope of the change in position divided by change in time through graphing and plotting the free settling terminal velocity of spherical objects in a liquid using graphical techniques.