Expert: Norge Roi - 10/6/2004

Question
What are the canopy and suspension lines?
What is an apex vent and what is its purpose?
What are drag and terminal velocities?
What is acceleration due to gravity?

please reply asap as this is part of a school assesment and i would be very thankful if you could help out  

Answer
ready?, first the canopy is the cloth or nylon part of the parachute,the suspension lines are what attaches the person to the canopy,these lines are about 10 feet long,and are very  strong.
An apex vent is a small hole in the top of the parachute like the army uses to drop people and equiptment,it allows small amounts of air to spill out from the top of the canopy,otherwise the parachute will rock  from side to side to dump air out from the bottom sides of the canopy,this causes the passenger to swing like a pendulum,                                                       Drag is the force that is caused by air flowing past somthing(like your hand outside a car window)the faster the speed the greater the drag                                                           Terminal velocity(your best question)is the maxium speed somthing can fall in the air,a feather has a much slower terminal velocity than a bowling ball.the adverage human has a terminal velocity of about 125 mph.things only fall at the same rate in a vacuum where there is no air to resist it.                                                          acceleration due to gravity is the process of building speed before terminal velocity occures,it takes a human about 5 seconds of accleration before reaching terminal velocity.if you think about sitting in a car when it starts moving,at first you can feel the pull as the car starts moving,as it reaches full speed let's say 60 mph the feeling of accleration goes away and you feel comfortable like sitting in your liveing room.Try to drink a glass of water when you leave a stop light,then try the same glass of water at full speed,when a skydiver reaches terminal veaocity the feeling of falling( which is really accleration disapates and it feels as if you are hanging in the air and the earth is moving at you,  thanks   Norge Roi