A sky diver jumps out of a hovering helicopter. A few seconds later, another sky diver jumps out, and they both fall along the same vertical line. Ignore air resistance, so that both sky divers fall with the same acceleration. Does the difference in their speeds stay the same throughout the fall?

Question

A sky diver jumps out of a hovering helicopter. A few seconds later, another sky diver jumps out, and they both fall along the same vertical line. Ignore air resistance, so that both sky divers fall with the same acceleration. Does the difference in their speeds stay the same throughout the fall? Does the vertical distance between them stay the same throughout the fall?

Accepted Answer

At any given instant, the speeds of the divers are different because one had a head start. In any time interval Δt 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. Consequently, the separation distance between them increases.

Question 2.9: A sky diver jumps out of a hovering helicopter. A few second...

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