When a skydiver jumps out of a plane, the forces acting upon them change as they move towards the ground. Describe the different forces acting on a skydiver and how these affect their journey to the ground.
Planning tips:
• Take a step by step approach. What forces are acting at each stage? What is the resultant force? How does this change the skydiver’s velocity?
• Keywords: weight, gravity, accelerate, decelerate, balanced, constant, terminal velocity, velocity, air resistance.
When a skydiver jumps out of a plane, the two main forces acting on them are gravity and air resistance.
1. At the beginning of the jump, the skydiver experiences a downward force due to gravity, which pulls them towards the Earth. This force is unbalanced, causing the skydiver to accelerate towards the ground.
2. As the skydiver gains velocity, the force of air resistance starts to come into play. Air resistance is a force that opposes the motion of an object through air. Initially, the force of air resistance is small compared to the force of gravity, so the skydiver continues to accelerate towards the ground.
3. However, as the skydiver's velocity increases, the force of air resistance also increases. At a certain point, the force of air resistance becomes equal to the force of gravity acting on the skydiver. At this point, the skydiver reaches a state of dynamic equilibrium, and the forces are balanced.
4. This balanced state is known as terminal velocity. At terminal velocity, the skydiver's acceleration becomes zero, and the skydiver falls at a constant speed towards the ground. The skydiver will continue to fall at this constant speed until they open their parachute.
In summary, the forces acting on a skydiver during their jump are gravity and air resistance. These forces cause the skydiver to accelerate towards the ground until they reach terminal velocity, at which point their speed remains constant. Opening the parachute will further change the forces acting on the skydiver, allowing them to safely descend to the ground.