Why does a skydiver go through two different terminal velocities?

When the skydiver jumps out, they are instantaneously at free fall (accelerate at 9.81 m/s). After this, a drag force from the displacement of air is felt. The drag force is proportional to the velocity squared. As the skydiver's velocity continues to increase, this drag force gets larger and larger, and the acceleration decreases. After a certain amount of time, the force from air resistance is equal to the force due to gravity. At this point, there is no resultant force and therefore no acceleration and the first terminal velocity is reached.
After the skydiver opens their parachute, the surface area exposed to the air is greatly increased. The drag force is then much larger than the gravitational force, so the skydiver decelerates. Decrease in velocity decreases air resistance, and a second much slower terminal velocity is reached once the forces are again equal.

SS
Answered by Saajan S. Physics tutor

9452 Views

See similar Physics A Level tutors

Related Physics A Level answers

All answers ▸

Why does Lenz's law have a minus sign?


How do we know the energy of a photon (light particle) is quantised?


State what is meant by resonance and provide some examples where it is crucial.


Given the rate of thermal energy transfer is 2.7kW, the volume of the water tank is 4.5m^3, the water is at a temperature of 28oC, density of water is 1000kgm-3 & c=4200Jkg-1K-1. Calculate the rise in water temperature that the heater could produce in 1hr


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:

© 2025 by IXL Learning