A 60 kg skydiver jumps from an airplane 4000 m above the Earth. After falling 450 m, he reaches a terminal velocity of 55 m/s. This means that after this time his velocity does not increase any further. (a) At the moment of the jump, what is the initial (gravitational) potential energy of the system formed by the earth and the skydiver? (Take your reference at ground level.) (b) After the skydiver has fallen 450 m, what is the potential energy (gravitational) potential energy of the system? (Call this the final potential energy.) (c) What is its final kinetic energy?
A 60 kg skydiver jumps from an airplane 4000 m above the Earth. After falling 450 m, he reaches
a terminal velocity of 55 m/s. This means that after this time his velocity does not increase any further. (a) At the
moment of the jump, what is the initial (gravitational) potential energy of the system formed by the earth and the skydiver?
(Take your reference at ground level.) (b) After the skydiver has fallen 450 m, what is the potential energy
(gravitational) potential energy of the system? (Call this the final potential energy.) (c) What is its final kinetic energy?
(d) Suppose the skydiver's initial kinetic energy is zero, ∆K = -∆U for this system? If
yes, justify, if no, explain what happened to the missing energy. (e) The skydiver and
the Earth (excluding the atmosphere!) can be considered a closed system here? Explain. (f) After the
reaches terminal velocity (and before opening his parachute), he falls for a while at constant speed.
constant velocity. What kind of energy conversion is taking place during this time? (Consider the system as the
Earth, the skydiver, and the air around him).
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