Question

A 50.0kg skydiver experience a 740newton air resistance force determine her acceleration

please someone help me

Answer 1

a = - 5 [m/s²].

Step-by-step explanation:

To solve this problem we must use Newton's second law, which tells us that the sum of forces on a body is equal to the product of mass by acceleration.

∑F = m*a

where:

F = resultant force [N] (units of Newtons)

m = mass = 50 [kg]

a = acceleration = 9.81 [m/s²]

For this particular problem, the only forces acting are the force of gravity acting down with negative sign, while the force of air opposes the fall, in this way it is positive.

`f_(air)-F_(grav)=-m*a`

As the movement is pointing down the acceleration will be taken as negative.

`740-(50*9.81)=-50*a\\740-490.5 = -50*a\\249.5 = -50*a\\a = - 5 [m/s^(2) ]`

We should note that in this case, the acceleration has a negative sign, this means that the force of the air makes the skydiver move upwards.