By landing properly and on soft ground (and by being lucky!), humans have survived falls from airplanes when, for example, a parachute failed to open, with astonishingly little injury. Without a parachute, a typical human eventually reaches a terminal velocity of about 62.0 m/s. Suppose the fall is from an airplane 1000 m high.

a) How fast would a person be falling when he reached the ground if there were no air drag?

b) If a 70.0 kg person reaches the ground traveling at the terminal velocity of 62.0 m/s, how much mechanical energy was lost during the fall?What happened to that energy?

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

a First use the formula Ui Ki Uf Kf where U is potentia... View the full answer