Terminal Velocity

After jumping from the aircraft the skydiver increases
speed up to a steady maximum called terminal velocity.
The downward force of gravity (the Weight) is balanced by the upward force of air resistance (the Drag)

 

  1. What forces act on the skydiver at time zero?
  2. What is the acceleration at time zero?
  3. What can we say about the acceleration 2 seconds later?
  4. What happens to the air resistance as the skydiver falls?
  5. What is the acceleration in the picture above?
  6. When the parachute is opened what happens to the air resistance?
  7. Just after the parachute opens which direction is the acceleration?
  8. When the skydiver reaches a new lower terminal velocity what can we say about the Weight and Drag?

Use the animation to answer the questions

 

Use this applet to answer these questions
  1. What would a graph of velocity against time look like for a parachute jump?
  2. How would the graph be different for a bigger parachute?
  3. Would a parachute work on the moon?

 

Three Facts about Falling Freely

Terminal Velocity(m/s)
"For a skydiver with parachute closed, the terminal velocity is about 200 km/h."

 

 56 m/s
"The more compact and dense the object, the higher its terminal velocity will be. Typical examples are the following: raindrop, 25 ft/s, human being, 250 ft/s."

 

 76 m/s
"The terminal velocity of a falling human being with arms and legs outstretched is about 120 miles per hour (192 km per hour) - slower than a lead balloon, but a good deal faster than a feather!"

 

 53 m/s