Newton's Laws - Mission NL5 Detailed Help


The diagrams below represent forces acting on an object. The size of the arrow represents the magnitude of the force. Which would be most consistent for the following scenario?
 
A skydiver falls while speeding up.


 
Often times, success in physics demands that you have the proper approach - a good game plan. A good game plan for this question would be to:
 
  • First, identify if the forces are balanced or unbalanced; and if unbalanced, determine the direction of the unbalanced force (see Think About It section below). This will allow you to eliminate several choices from among the ten diagrams.
  • Second, use your understanding of the various force types to determine if there is a force in each direction - up, down, right, left. This requires that you have a good understanding of the different types of forces and when they are present and absent (use the link in the Hot Link section if necessary). This second step allows you to reduce the number of choices to one.


 
If an object is moving downward and speeding up, then there is a downward acceleration. This downward acceleration is caused by a downward net force. As such, whatever force diagram you pick, it should be one that shows more down force than up force.