Answer:
Yes, upward
Explanation:
We can solve the problem by using Newton's second law, which can be written as
[tex]\sum F = ma[/tex]
where [tex]\sum F[/tex] is the net force, m is the mass, a is the acceleration.
At the beginning, the skydiver is falling at constant speed (called terminal velocity): this means that the two forces acting on him/her, the weight W (downward) and the air resistance R (upward) are equal in magnitude, and so the net force (and the net acceleration) is zero:
[tex]R-W=ma=0 \rightarrow R-W[/tex]
When the parachute is opened, the resistance force suddenly increased (because the surface area of the body increases), so Newton's second law becomes:
[tex]R-W=ma[/tex]
this time, [tex]R>W[/tex], therefore [tex]a>0[/tex], which means that the acceleration has the same direction as the air resistance (upward). As a result, the skydiver will accelerated upward, which means that its vertical velocity will decrease in magnitude (because he/she was travelling downward, so the acceleration is in the opposite direction).
