Forces acting on a skydiver

• What is the only force acting on a skydiver immediately after jumping?

  Weight
• Why does the skydiver accelerate towards the ground?

  Because weight is greater than air resistance
• What force opposes the motion of a skydiver falling?

  Air resistance
• What happens to the air resistance as the skydiver's velocity increases?

  Air resistance also increases
• What occurs when air resistance balances the weight of the skydiver?

  The resultant force becomes zero
• What is the term for the constant velocity reached by a skydiver?

  Terminal velocity
• What happens when the skydiver opens their parachute?

  Air resistance massively increases
• How does the resultant force change when the parachute opens?

  It acts upwards
• What effect does increased air resistance have on the skydiver's motion after opening the parachute?

  The skydiver decelerates
• What happens to air resistance as the skydiver's velocity decreases?

  Air resistance also decreases
• What occurs when air resistance balances the weight again after the parachute opens?

  The resultant force is zero
• What is the final state of the skydiver before landing?

  Falling at a lower terminal velocity
• What would happen if a skydiver hit the ground without a parachute?

  The skydiver would die
• What is the relationship between weight and air resistance during free fall?

  Weight is greater than air resistance initially
• Explain this velocity time graph

  1. The sky diver accelerates towards the ground
  2. As the sky diver falls an air resistance acts upwards but weight is still greater than air resistance so the sky diver continues accelerating
  3. When air resistance balances weight the resultant force is zero so there is terminal velocity
  4. The sky diver opens their parachute causing surface area to increase therefore air resistance increases so the resultant force acts upwards meaning the sky diver decelerates