Question

A 72 kg skydiver is descending on a parachute. His speed is still increasing at 1.2 m/s2. What are the magnitude and direction of the force of the parachute harness on the diver? What are the magnitude and direction of the net force on the diver?

Answer 1

Answer:

Parachute exerts a force of 619.2 N upward

The net force is 86.4 N acting downward

Explanation:

As the gravitational acceleration g = 9.8 m/s2, the parachute help reduces the net acceleration to 1.2m/s. So it must exerted an upward acceleration on the skydiver of

9.8 - 1.2 = 8.6 m/s2

Since the skydiver mass is 72 kg, we can use Newton's 2nd law to calculate the force that causes this acceleration of 8.6

F = ma = 8.6*72 = 619.2 N acting upward

The net force is also the product of net acceleration and mass

= 1.2 * 72 = 86.4 N acting downward