I Calculate Skydiver Deceleration Force

[Vikinglord]

I'm wondering how to calculate the force exerted on a skydiver as they decelerate from their terminal velocity of approximately 120 mph to approximately 30 mph in the course of one second, as I have seen and felt while skydiving. Thank you all in advance.

 

[Chestermiller]

120 mph is 176 ft/sec and 30 mph is 44 ft/sec. So the deceleration is 132 ft/sec^2. This is about 4 g's.

 

[russ_watters]

Note that that assumes contact deceleration, which I would think equipment manufacturers try to achieve.

 

[rcgldr]

Instead of constant deceleration, there's some effort to also reduce the jerk, so that the initial deceleration is not as great as the maximum deceleration.