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What should a free-body diagram look like for a skydiver who has opened his parachute and is now slowing down as he falls?

There is an arrow up for air resistance and an arrow down for gravity. The arrow up is longer than the arrow down.


There is only an arrow down for gravity.


There is an arrow up for air resistance and an arrow down for gravity. The arrows are the same length.


There is an arrow up for air resistance and an arrow down for gravity. The arrow up is shorter than the arrow down.

2 Answers

6 votes

answer A is correct i took the test


User Kevin Gilbert
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Answer:

There is an arrow up for air resistance and an arrow down for gravity. The arrow up is longer than the arrow down.

Step-by-step explanation:

The text of the problem says that the skydiver is slowing down: this means that he has an acceleration, which is directed opposite to the motion of the skydiver. Since the motion is downward, the acceleration must be upward.

There are two forces acting on the skydiver: the gravity (downward) and the air resistance (upward). According to Newton's second law:

F=ma

the acceleration has the same direction of the net force, so the net force must also be upward: therefore, the air resistance must be greater than the gravity, so the arrow up for air resistance is longer than the arrow down for gravity.

User Bmurmistro
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6.8k points