Chapter 8.4, Problem 26ES

Suppose a fully equipped skydiver weighing 240 lb has a terminal speed of 120 ft/s with a closed parachute and 24 ft/s with an open parachute. Suppose further that this skydiver is dropped from an airplane at an altitude of 10,000 ft, falls for 25 s with a closed parachute, and then falls the rest of the way with an open parachute.

(a) Assuming that the skydiver’s initial vertical velocity is zero, use Exercise 25 to find the skydiver’s vertical velocity and height at the time the parachute opens. $[\text{Note}:\text{Take}g=32{\text{ft/s}}^{\text{2}}.]$

(b) Use a calculating utility to find a numerical solution for the total time that the skydiver is in the air.