TERMIUM Plus®

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DROPS TERMINAL VELOCITY [1 record]

Record 1 2004-09-23

English

Subject field(s)
  • Atmospheric, Climatic and Meteorological Phenomena
DEF

Normally the speed at which precipitation elements are falling through the adjacent air, up to 9 m s-1 for the largest raindrops and much greater for hail.

CONT

In the atmosphere,... objects such as raindrops, which attain terminal velocity at great heights above the surface, may be regarded as continuously adjusting their speeds to remain at all times essentially in the terminal fall condition. The terminal fall velocity of water droplets in still air can be computed from Stokes's law for drops smaller than 80 m in diameter. Above that size, empirical values must be used.

CONT

In other words, as cloud droplets fall, air resists their downward motion and the amount of this air resistance is based on the size of the drop and its rate of fall, or velocity. The speed of the falling cloud droplet increases until the air resistance equals the downward pull of gravity and then begins to fall at a constant speed, no longer accelerating downward. This constant speed that is finally reached is called the drop's terminal velocity, or fall speed.

OBS

"terminal fall velocity, terminal velocity and fall velocity" have a more general meaning : "The falling speed appropriate to a particular object moving through a specific fluid medium at which the drag and the buoyancy forces exerted by the fluid on the object just equal the gravitational force acting on it." [OMMV, 1992, p. 610.]

PHR

Fall speed of drops, graupel, hailstones, hydrometeors, ice crystals, ice particles, precipitation particles, rain, raindrops, snow.

PHR

Fall velocity of cirrus cloud particles, droplets, hydrometeor, ice crystals, raindrops, snow, snowflakes, water droplets.

Key term(s)
  • falling velocity
  • drop's terminal velocity

French

Domaine(s)
  • Phénomènes météorologiques, climatiques et atmosphériques
DEF

Habituellement, vitesse à laquelle tombent les éléments de précipitation à travers l'atmosphère, jusqu'à 9 m s-1 pour les plus grosses gouttes de pluie et beaucoup plus pour la grêle.

PHR

Vitesse de chute des gouttelettes, des gouttes de pluie, des grêlons, de la pluie.

Spanish

Campo(s) temático(s)
  • Fenómenos meteorológicos, climáticos y atmosféricos
DEF

Normalmente, la velocidad a la que los elementos de la precipitación caen a través del aire adyacente, hasta 9 m s-1 para las gotas de lluvia más grandes y mucho mayor para el granizo.

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