Final answer:
To calculate air resistance experienced by a falling woman with an accelerometer reading of 5 m/s² downward, one must consider her mass, the force of gravity, and Newton's second law of motion. Air resistance is the upward force that opposes gravity and reduces acceleration. Determine this force using the difference between the gravitational force and the net force, assuming only gravity and air resistance are at play.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine how much air resistance the woman experiences, we can use Newton's second law of motion, which states that the net force acting on an object is equal to the mass of the object multiplied by its acceleration (F = ma). Since the woman is falling with an acceleration of 5 m/s² downward, and we know that the acceleration due to gravity (g) is 9.80 m/s² downward, the air resistance must be providing an upward force that reduces the total acceleration from 9.80 m/s² to 5 m/s².
Assuming the woman has a typical mass (m), we can calculate the force of gravity (weight) as F_gravity = mg. Then we calculate the net force that's actually accelerating her, which is F_net = ma (with a = 5 m/s²). Since the only forces acting on the woman are gravity and air resistance, the force of air resistance can be found by subtracting the net force from the force of gravity: F_air_resistance = F_gravity - F_net. Once we have the woman's mass, we can plug in the numbers to calculate the air resistance.