Question

If you jumped out of an airplane, you would begin speeding up as you fall downward, due to wind resistance, your velocity would become consistant with time. After this occurs, the magnitude of the force of wind resistance is:_________.

a) equal to the force of gravity acting on you
b) is slightly smaller than the force of gravity acting on you
c) is greater than the force of gravity acting on you
d) is much smaller than the force of gravity acting on you

Answer 1

The magnitude of the force of wind resistance will be equal to the force of gravity.

Step-by-step explanation:

A body that is falling from space to the earth has to pass through the atmosphere which is densely full of air. The forces that acts on the body are

A. The force of gravity with which earth id attracting the body towards it's centre.

B. The friction of the body with the air.

The force of gravity acts downwards. And the force of friction acts opposite to that of motion i.e upwards.

When these forces cancel each other, the body falls at a constant velocity. This is called terminal velocity. At that point, the opposing forces are equal with each other.