You jump out of an airplane and open your parachute after a brief period of free fall. To decelerate your fall, must the force exerted on you by the parachute be less than, equal to or greater than your weight. Explain.
2006-09-30 11:26:35 · 2 answers · asked by bluevolleyball12 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Homework Help
It must be greater than your weight.
If it were less than your weight, you would continue to fall, gaining momentum.
If it were equal to your weight, you would continue to fall at the current speed.
If it were greater than your weight, more air mass would be in the parachute and you would slow down.
2006-09-30 11:34:19 · answer #1 · answered by iswd1 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
F=ma.
Without the parachute, your weight is F, and your a is acceleration towards earth.
With the parachute and if its dragging force is equal to your weight, there is no acceleration, or, in other words, you keep your velocity.
In order to decelerate, or a=-ive, you need to have the parachute dragging you more than your weight.
Hope this makes sense.
2006-09-30 18:36:22 · answer #2 · answered by boyjackie 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋