Critical Thinking Two spherical beads of the same mass fall at a constant speed due to a drag force. Bead A takes twice as long to fall the same distance as bead B.

(a) Which of these beads has the larger radius?

(b) Based on experimental data, an equation that fits the data is suggested for radius of a bead, r, which may not be correct: r = Kt - 1/2, where K is a constant with appropriate units and t is the time it takes for a bead to reach a determined distance. Is this equation consistent with your answer from part a? Explain why or why not. Does this equation make sense? Explain why or why not.

(c) Beads of different radii are selected and the time it takes to fall a set distance is recorded. Graph the radius of these beads as a function of the time it takes to fall a determined distance.