FORCE, MASS, AND ACCELERATION.
I don't understand this question...
A sky diver weighing 500N free falls through the air at a steady speed of 50m/s.
a) draw a diagram of the forces acting on her.
(how do we draw a diagram of this? )
b) what is the air resistance acting on her, in Newtons? Explain your answer.
c) what is her mass?
If there is constant velocity, there must be no net force. But the diver weighs 500N, so air resistance must be...
a) To draw a diagram of the forces acting on the sky diver, you will need to consider two forces: the gravitational force (weight) acting downwards and the air resistance force acting upwards.
- The gravitational force has a magnitude of 500N and acts downwards. You can represent this force with an arrow pointing downwards labeled as "weight" or "gravity."
- The air resistance force opposes the motion and acts upwards. However, since the skydiver is falling at a steady speed, the magnitude of the air resistance force must be equal to the gravitational force. Therefore, you can represent the air resistance force with an arrow pointing upwards, labeled as "air resistance."
b) The air resistance acting on the sky diver can be determined based on the fact that it is equal in magnitude to the gravitational force (500N). At a steady speed, the air resistance force balances the gravitational force, preventing acceleration. Air resistance is a force exerted by the air on an object moving through it, and its magnitude depends on various factors such as speed, surface area, and shape. In this case, the air resistance force is equal to the gravitational force because the skydiver is falling at a steady speed, implying a net force of zero.
c) To determine the mass of the sky diver, we can use Newton's second law of motion, which states that the force acting on an object equals the mass of the object multiplied by its acceleration. Since the skydiver is falling at a steady speed, the acceleration is zero, and therefore the net force is also zero.
Using the equation F = ma, where F is the force and a is the acceleration, we can rearrange the equation to solve for mass: m = F/a.
In this case, the force (F) is the weight of the skydiver, which is 500N. Since the acceleration (a) is zero, the mass (m) would be undefined or zero.