A shiny, spherical, metal alien jumps out of a perfectly good airplane and skydives for a few seconds. Its photographic friend snaps photos of the sphere with a special camera that also captures the forces on the object. This diagram shows a few of the snapshots, but they are out of order. Place them in order, from the instant it jumps out of the plane and begins free-fall until the time it attains terminal velocity. Assume that the parachute has not deployed yet. If any of the diagrams depict a situation not physically possible, omit it from the ordering.
A) L, Y, J, Q
B) J, Y, L, J
C) L, Q, J
D) Q, Y
E) L, J, Q

Question

A shiny, spherical, metal alien jumps out of a perfectly good airplane and skydives for a few seconds. Its photographic friend snaps photos of the sphere with a special camera that also captures the forces on the object.  This diagram shows a few of the snapshots, but they are out of order. Place them in order, from the instant it jumps out of the plane and begins free-fall until the time it attains terminal velocity. Assume that the parachute has not deployed yet. If any of the diagrams depict a situation not physically possible, omit it from the ordering.
A) L, Y, J, Q 
B) J, Y, L, J 
C) L, Q, J 
D) Q, Y 
E) L, J, Q

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

We can eliminate options A, B, and C because they include diagrams that are physically impossible. Option D is also incorrect because it only includes two snapshots and doesn't show the full sequence of events. Option E is correct because it shows the correct order of events, starting with diagram L which shows the sphere jumping out of the plane and beginning free-fall, and ending with diagram Q which shows the sphere attaining terminal velocity.

A Shiny, Spherical, Metal Alien Jumps Out of a Perfectly