A sky diver jumps out of a hovering helicopter. A few secondslater, another sky

Question

A sky diver jumps out of a hovering helicopter. A few secondslater, another sky diver jumps out, and they both fall alongthe same vertical line. Ignore air resistance, so that both skydivers fall with the same acceleration. Does the difference intheir speeds stay the same throughout the fall? Does the verticaldistance between them stay the same throughout the fall?If the two divers were connected by a long bungee cord,would the tension in the cord increase, lessen, or stay thesame during the fall?

Explanation / Answer

At any given instant, the speeds of the divers are different because one had a head start. In any time interval t after this instant, however, the two divers increase their speeds by the same amount because they have the same acceleration. Thus, the difference in their speeds remains the same throughout the fall. The first jumper always has a greater speed than the second. Thus, in a given time interval, the first diver covers a greater distance than the second. Thus, the separation distance between them increases. Once the distance between the divers reaches the length of the bungee cord, the tension in the cord begins to increase. As the tension increases, the distance between the divers becomes greater and greater.

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