Question

When the skydiver descends to a certain height above the ground, she deploys her parachute to ensure a safe landing. Usually the parachute is deployed when the skydiver reaches an altitude of about 900 m (3000 ft). Immediately after deploying the parachute, does the skydiver have a nonzero acceleration?

Answer 1

After deploying the parachute, a skydiver does experience nonzero acceleration as the increased drag causes rapid deceleration until reaching a new lower terminal velocity.

Step-by-step explanation:

Immediately after deploying her parachute, a skydiver does indeed have a nonzero acceleration. When a parachute opens, it rapidly increases the area exposed to air resistance, causing a significant increase in drag. As a result, the force of air resistance acting on the skydiver greatly exceeds the force of gravity, which causes a rapid deceleration of the skydiver. The magnitude of this deceleration is determined by the net force acting on the skydiver, which now includes the strong opposing force from the parachute's drag. This deceleration continues until the skydiver reaches a new, much lower terminal velocity with the parachute open.

Answer 2

Yes

Step-by-step explanation:

Yes, the skydiver cannot have zero acceleration as soon as the parachute is opened it takes some time to balance the rate of change in velocity with the drag force. This is in accordance with the Newton's second law of motion that the rate of change in momentum is directly proportional to the force applied.

As force is given as :

`F=(d)/(dt)(p)`

`F=m* (dv)/(dt)`

`F=m.a`

here a=g

`F=m.g`

where:

`dp=` change in momentum

`dt=` time taken

`m=` mass

`a=` acceleration

`g=` acceleration due to gravity

• So there will be a non zero acceleration because the force acting on the body does not becomes zero immediately.