Diego wrote:
Vince wrote:
Did a quickie calculation, if earth's mass would be 6*10^24 (got it off the
net) and taking a hypothetical figure that the mean weight of all the people
on earth would be 80kg (the american fatsos and the over billion starving 3rd
worlders balance each other out) I got something like this...
(6*10^12 * 80) / (6 * 10^24) = 8 * 10^-14.
Now if I'm correct about this, the effect of jump day would be about the same
that a 1kg rock would have on a 100 million ton object.
but thats in space...
Um, where do you think the earth is?
Anyway.
Jumping up causes an impulse force in two directions. One, pushing the surface
you are standing on down, and one pushing you up. This will result in a small
force pushing the earth in some direction, while you will get a certain amount
of kinetic energy the other way. What happens next? The gravitational force
will pull you back down again. "Jolly good" you think. Now we get the same
energy applied in the same direction _twice_, because the landing is identical
to the takeoff force-wise. Sadly nobody thought about what happens when the
earth attracts you back. You "push" the earth as much with takeoff+landing as
you attract the earth gravitationally while in the air. Yes, YOU attract the
earth too. Even you mudders.
So, energy is transformed from adeninetriphosphate to heat in your muscles at
takeoff, some heat+sonic effects in the landing, but NO energy goes into
pushing earth into another orbit. Sorry.