At about 55 meters/sec, a falling parachuter (before the parachute opens) no longer accelerates. Air friction
opposes acceleration. Although the effect of air friction begins gradually, imagine that the parachuter is free
falling until terminal speed (the constant falling speed) is reached. How long would that take?
Well, it takes one second to get every 10 meters (if [tex]g=10 m/s^2[/tex]), so one needs just 5.5 seconds. He would fall 137.5 meters (if my calculations are right) during that time.
