Bicycle Freewheeling with Air Drag as a Physics Experiment

Abstract

To familiarize first-year students with the important ingredients of a physics experiment, we offer them a project close to their daily life: measuring the effect of air resistance on a bicycle. Experiments are done with a bicycle freewheeling on a downhill slope. The data are compared with equations of motions corresponding to different models for the air resistance on a moving object. The relevant parameters are extracted from the data and the validity of the different models is be discussed. Finally findings are presented in a poster session.