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Grade Upto college levelMechanics

sir, does atmosphere of a planet plays any role in retarding or accelerating the motion of a body ? HOW & WHY?

Profile image of prachet dave
16 Years agoGrade Upto college level
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Profile image of Prasanjeet Mohanty Mohanty
ApprovedApproved Tutor Answer16 Years ago

Though the atmosphere does not play any role in the acceleration due to gravity of a palnet, it does retard the motion of a body during it's motion as it will definitely provide a certain amount of friction no matter the body's direction of motion. this is the reason the raindrops falling from the sky fall at a uniform velocity (known as terminal velocity) rather than falling with a acceleration. the denser the atmosphere, the more retardation affect it will exert.