l jumped but l cant tell how long l was falling for, l need to know for a paper but l cant seem to figure out how the math works

You fall at 32 feet per second So maybe a second and 1/8 or so.

Dave is wrong. You fall about 32 feet the first second, but u fall about 64 feet the 2nd second. Galileo showed that objects of different weights fall at the same rate, unless one has less air-resistance than another. You can use a parachute to modify ur air-resistance. There is a formula for acceleration due to gravity. In the first second, u fall 9.8 meters or 32.2 feet. In the 2nd second, u fall 19.6 meters or 64.3 feet. You r constantly accelerating to a certain point, so it is difficult to calculate how long it takes to fall 40 feet or 18.9 meters. It would be between 1/8 & 1/4 second, however, & closer to 1/4 second.

The formula is d=1/2at^2 a= the acceleration due to gravity or about 32 ft/sec^2 40 ft= 1/2 of 32 (or 16) times the time squared. So the time squared is 40/16 or 2.5
Therefore time squared is 2.5 and time is the square root of 2.5.

Answer= 1.58 sec

why did you jump 40 feet for a paper?
and why would the people marking the paper want to know that you jumped 40 feet?
:P