Question

6. Mr. Leppold jumps out of a plane with a parachute...before the chute opens,
does he have potential or kinetic energy, or both? Explain, and how does the
potential & kinetic energy change as he falls?

Answer 1

1) He has both potential and kinetic energy

2) Before the parachute opens, the potential energy decreases and the kinetic energy increases

Explanation:

1)

The gravitational potential energy of a body is the energy possessed by the object due to its position in a gravitational field, and it is given by:

$PE=mgh$

where

m is the mass of the body

g is the acceleration of gravity

h is the height of the body above the ground

On the other hand, the kinetic energy of a body is the energy possessed by the body due to its motion; it is given by

$KE=\frac{1}{2}mv^2$

where

v is the speed of the object

Here Mr. Leppold has both potential and kinetic energy before opening the parachute, because:

- It is moving at a certain speed, so $v\neq 0$, therefore he has kinetic energy

- He is at a certain height above the ground, $h\neq 0$, therefore he has potential energy

2)

The total mechanical energy of Mr.Leppold is the sum of the potential and the kinetic energy:

$E=PE+KE$

According to the law of conservation of energy, in absence of air resistance, this quantity remains constant.

During the fall, the height of Leppold decreases: this means that as $h$ decreases, the potential energy decreases  too.

However, the total energy E must remain constant: therefore, this means that the kinetic energy KE must increase, and this occurs because the speed of Mr. Leppold increases as he falls.

Learn more about kinetic and potential energy:

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