Problem Statement:

Parachutist: Two forces act on a parachutist, the attraction by the earth mg (m mass of person plus
equipment, the acceleration of gravity g=9.8 m/sec^2) and the air resistance, assumed to be
proportional to the square of the velocity v (t). Using Newtons second law of motion (mass
acceleration resultant of the forces), set up a model (an ODE for v (t)). Graph a direction field
(choosing m and the constant of proportionality equal to 1). Identify the falling velocity of a falling
parachutist by using numerical method. What is the limiting velocity?

Mathematical Model:
Newtons 2nd law of Motion States that the time rate change of momentum of a body is equal to
the resulting force acting on it.. The model is formulated as
F = m a
F=net force acting on the body (N)
m=mass of the object (kg)
a=its acceleration (m/s2)
Parachutist:

Figure 1: Schematic diagram of the forces acting on a falling parachutist. F
D
is the downward force due to
gravity. F
u
is the upward force due to the resistance


m
cv mg
dt
dv
cv F
mg F
F F F
m
F
dt
dv
ma F
U
D
U D

=
=
=
+ =
=
=
v
m
c
g
dt
dv
=
This is a differential equation and is written in terms of the differential rate of change dv/dt of the
variable that we are interested in predicting.

Analytical solution of

Using linear differential equation:


Integration factor:

Solve it:

At initial condition v(0)=0

so the final solution after simplify its become


Lets defined a constant :
Mass of parachutist is 50 kg,
Gravitational force is 9.81m/s^2



g v
m
c
dt
dv
= +
}
=
dt
m
c
e I
( )
t m c
e
c
gm
t v
) / (
1 ) (

=
v
m
c
g
dt
dv
=
Result:
Time (sec) Velocity (m/s)
1 8.68
2 15.44
3 20.70
4 24.80
5 27.99
6 30.48
7 32.42
8 33.93
9 35.10
10 36.02
11 36.73
12 37.28
13 37.72
14 38.05
15 38.32
16 38.52
17 38.68
18 38.81
19 38.90
20 38.98


Numerical solution of







New Value =Old value +Slope x Step size


v
m
c
g
dt
dv
=
) (
) ( ) (
1
1
i i
i i
t t
t v t v
t
v
dt
dv

=
A
A
~
+
+
) (
) (
) ( ) (
1
1
i
i i
i i
t v
m
c
g
t t
t v t v
~

+
+
) ( ) ( ) ( ) (
1 1 i i i i i
t t t v
m
c
g t v t v
(

+ =
+ +
) (
1 + i
t v
Time (sec) Velocity (m/s)
1 9.80
2 17.15
3 22.66
4 26.80
5 29.89
6 32.22
7 33.97
8 35.27
9 36.25
10 36.99
11 37.54
12 37.95
13 38.26
14 38.50
15 38.67
16 38.80
17 38.90
18 38.97
19 39.03
20 39.07