We will now add a parachute to slow the fall of the diver to earth. Adding a parachute will effectively reduce the terminal velocity of the skydiver by increasing the drag force acting on the skydiver-parachute combination. The parachute will not significantly change or alter the gravitational force which acts on the skydiver since the weight of the parachute is small relative to that of the skydiver. Only the forces acting on the surface of the skydiver and the deployed parachute will be altered. It is the drag of the parachute that dominates the fall of the skydiver, producing a terminal velocity for the skydiver-parachute combination much smaller than that of the skydiver alone.
The parachute has a drag force Fp equal to
The terminal velocity of the skydiver with a parachute is therefore
| where | = the drag force on the deployed parachute (N), = the drag force on the skydiver without a parachute (N), |