A skydier jumps out of a hovering helicopter so there is no forward velocity. what is the skydivers acceleration/11170085/84c6e0eb? utm_source=registration

Answer: 9.8 m/s2

The skydiver’s acceleration is equal to the acceleration due to gravity or 9.8 meters/seconds^2 since there is no forward velocity and the skydiver is just free falling. The equation would be Vf=Vi + a (t) where Vf is the final velocity, Vi is the initial velocity, a is acceleration due to gravity, and t is time.

With this, a skydiver's downward acceleration is like any falling object, which is about 28-35 feet per second squared and this will decrease over a few seconds and approaches zero as the skydiver reaches terminal velocity. Therefore, his Vf is equal to his Vi which is 0 and the instant jumps out from the helicopter is t=0 so his acceleration will be the acceleration due to gravity.