The Physics of Skydiving

I plan to go skydiving after graduation, but before I do so, I must analyze the physics of it first!

There are many forces that are involved when skydiving. Most obviously, there is air resistance, which is also known as the drag force. When the skydiver is falling downwards, air resistance will exert an upward force on the skydiver as he falls through the air; this drag force is caused by collisions between molecules in the air and the surface area of the skydiver. Because the surface area of the skydiver is relatively small, the skydiver will likely not notice a significant amount of air resistance, and will fall at a high velocity. 

The second force that acts on the skydiver is the buoyant force, which will act upwards on the skydiver. This force will be much smaller in the air than it would be in water. 

There is also the force of gravity, which pulls the skydiver towards the ground. As we know, the force of gravity is the skydiver’s mass times 9.8m/s2. 

Usually, a skydiver will be in free fall for approximately 30 seconds before the parachute is used to slow the skydiver down before he reaches the ground. The parachute is able to slow the skydiver down because the parachute has a much larger surface area than the skydiver, and this larger surface area increases the drag force. The increased drag force will be created by increasing collisions between molecules in the air and the surface area of the parachute, which will enable the skydiver to safely reach the ground.