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Grade upto college level Mechanics

Explain the action of a parachute in retarding free fall using Bernoulli's equation.

Profile image of Amit Saxena
11 Years agoGrade upto college level
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2 Answers

Profile image of Navjyot Kalra
11 Years ago
When the parachute descends towards the Earth, the flow of the air layer around the parachute is changing. So, the speed of the parachute is lower above it and higher below it. Using Bernoulli’s equation, the pressure below the parachute is higher than above the parachute. Thus, a lift force which is smaller than its weight acts on the parachute. This force slows down the speed of the parachute until it reaches a constant value.
Profile image of Favor_nova
6 Years ago
When a parachute descends it is pulled down by the force of gravity but when is ascends is is pulled up by the force acting against gravity