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Difficulty: EasyGravity and Free Fall

Arrange the following stages of a skydiver's descent from an aircraft to the ground in the correct chronological order.

  1. 1The skydiver steps out of the aircraft and accelerates downward.
  2. 2The skydiver's downward speed increases, causing upward air resistance to grow.
  3. 3Air resistance balances gravity, resulting in a constant downward speed.
  4. 4A parachute is deployed, increasing air resistance to rapidly slow the fall.

Answer

The correct sequence starts with initial downward acceleration, followed by increasing air resistance, reaching a constant terminal velocity, and finally parachute deployment to decelerate.
The sequence accurately describes the physical forces during an atmospheric free fall. Initially, gravity causes acceleration. As speed increases, so does opposing air resistance. Eventually, air resistance equals the gravitational force, resulting in a constant speed known as terminal velocity. Finally, deploying a parachute increases surface area, creating excess drag to rapidly decelerate the skydiver.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the initial state of the fall.
The skydiver steps out and accelerates downward.
At the start of the fall, speed is very low, so gravity is the dominant force causing an initial downward acceleration.
2
Determine what happens as the skydiver's downward speed increases.
Upward air resistance grows.
Air resistance (drag) increases proportionally as the speed of the falling object moving through the atmosphere increases.
3
Identify the state where the forces eventually balance.
Air resistance balances gravity, leading to a constant speed.
This state is known as terminal velocity. The net force becomes zero, meaning acceleration stops and the skydiver falls at a steady rate.
4
Identify the final stage required before safely reaching the ground.
The parachute is deployed to slow the fall.
Deploying the parachute vastly increases the surface area, which temporarily makes air resistance much greater than gravity, safely decelerating the descent.

Key Concept

Gravity, Air Resistance, and Terminal Velocity
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Topics

Gravity and Free Fall

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