Question

A skydiver prepares to jump out of a plane. Explain how gravity and air resistance will affect the motion of the skydiver before and after he or she opens the parachute.

Answer 1

Explanation :

When a skydiver prepares to jump out of the plane. Then two forces will acts i.e. the force of gravity and frictional force. Both forces act in the opposite direction.

When the person starts accelerating towards the earth, the gravitational force is stronger.

When he opens the parachute, the surface area increases and hence the resistive force increase. As a result, he or she attains the terminal velocity.

Answer 2

Before the skydiver opens the parachute, his velocity would be increasing greatly as much as 9.8 m/s². Opening the parachute would increase the surface area to which air may cause resistance. The skydiver then reaches his terminal velocity.