Please describe the change in velocity of someone falling from a plane before they open their parachute

At first, when the parachutist is at 0ms-1 velocity (about to fall) there is only Weight acting downwards on the person, so the resultant force is down. F=ma, therefore the parachutist accelerates downwards. Then as the velocity of the person increases, drag also increases in the opposite direction, upwards. Drag is directly proportional to velocity^2. Therefore, as drag increases upwards, and the weight of the person stays the same, the resultant force downwards decreases, and therefore acceleration also decreases downwards. Until the magnitude of the drag force is equal to that of the weight. This in turn means that there is no acceleration and the parachutist has reached terminal velocity.

PE
Answered by Pearl E. Physics tutor

3337 Views

See similar Physics GCSE tutors

Related Physics GCSE answers

All answers ▸

A cup of boiling water (100 degrees C) (0.2kg) transfers 20 000J of heat to its surrounding in 1 hour. What temperature is the water in the kettle after 1 hour?


Why is light refracted when it crosses from air to glass?


PHYSICS A LEVEL Explain why, when a red giant becomes a white dwarf, it moves towards the lower left of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram [2]


Alice and Bob are sat on a seesaw. The seesaw is in static equilibrium. Alice weighs 500N and is sat 0.5m to the left of the pivot. If Bob weighs 800N, how far from the pivot on the right is he sat? What happens if Bob moves closer to the pivot?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2026 by IXL Learning