Terminal Velocity

• What is the only force acting on a body in free fall?

  Its weight
• What causes the acceleration $g$ in free fall?


  Gravity
• How does the drag force change as a body accelerates?

  It increases
• What happens to the resultant force as drag force increases?

  It decreases
• What does Newton's Second Law state?

  F = ma
• When does a body in free fall stop accelerating?

  When drag force equals gravitational pull
• What is the maximum velocity a falling object can achieve called?

  Terminal velocity
• What happens to a skydiver's acceleration as they reach terminal velocity?

  • Acceleration decreases
  • Eventually becomes zero
  • This occurs when terminal velocity is reached
• If skydiver A is heavier than skydiver B, who should jump first to join up?

  Skydiver B should jump first
• Why does skydiver B jump first?

  B has a lower terminal velocity
• What determines the terminal velocity of a skydiver?

  The weight of the skydiver
• What happens to skydivers when their parachutes are deployed?

  They decelerate to a lower terminal velocity
• What are common misconceptions about skydivers deploying parachutes?

  • Skydivers do not move upwards
  • They decelerate to a lower terminal velocity
• How is acceleration represented on a velocity-time graph?

  As the gradient of the graph

  
• What does the graph of a skydiver's velocity over time show?

  How velocity varies with time