Assignment:
A parachutist and her parachute have a combined mass of 80 kg. She steps out from an aircraft travelling horizontally at 90m s−1 at a height of 300m above the ground, and falls for 5 seconds before instantaneously opening her parachute. In the free fall phase of the motion, take the origin of coordinates to be a point on the ground vertically below where the parachutist jumped from the aircraft. Model the parachutist as a particle, and ignore air resistance. You may assume that the velocity of the parachutist relative to the
Air-craft is initially zero.
I would like to know what a force diagram for the parachutist would look like with the corresponding unit vectors. Could you please clearly de?ne a system of coordinates?
What would the initial position vector and velocity of the parachutist be in terms of these unit vectors?
How would I determine the differential equation of motion of the parachutist and then derive expressions for her velocity v(t) and position r(t).
How would I calculate the speed and the direction of the parachutist's motion with respect to the horizontal at the instant when the parachute opens, and what would be her vertical height at this instant?
If I was to rede?ne the origin for the phase after the parachute has opened to be at the point on the ground vertically below that at which the parachute opens, and then model the parachutist and parachute as a sphere of e?ective diameter 3m, what are the position, speed and direction of motion of the parachutist at the instant when the parachute opens in terms of the new coordinates? (Assuming that the quadratic model of air resistance applies in addition to the force due to gravity).
Provide complete and step by step solution for the question and show calculations and use formulas.