Why Skydivers Don't Keep Getting Faster
Part of Terminal Velocity — GCSE Physics
This introduction covers Why Skydivers Don't Keep Getting Faster within Terminal Velocity for GCSE Physics. Revise Terminal Velocity in Extra Topics for GCSE Physics with 13 exam-style questions and 11 flashcards. This is a high-frequency topic, so it is worth revising until the explanation feels precise and repeatable. It is section 1 of 13 in this topic. Use this introduction to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
Topic position
Section 1 of 13
Practice
13 questions
Recall
11 flashcards
💪 Why Skydivers Don't Keep Getting Faster
Jump from a plane at 4,000 metres and something remarkable happens. For the first few seconds you accelerate furiously — stomach in your mouth, wind roaring past. But after about 12 seconds you notice something strange: you stop speeding up. You're still falling at roughly 55 m/s (about 120 mph), but the acceleration has gone. You've reached terminal velocity.
The secret is air resistance. The faster you fall, the harder the air pushes back up against you. Eventually the upward air resistance exactly equals your downward weight. At that moment the resultant force becomes zero — and Newton's First Law takes over: no resultant force means no change in velocity. You carry on at a constant, terrifying 55 m/s.
Open your parachute and the game changes instantly. The huge canopy dramatically increases your surface area. Air resistance rockets up, far exceeding your weight. You decelerate sharply until a new, much lower terminal velocity of about 5 m/s is reached — just enough for a safe landing.