Thank you, all, for the replies. I did not realize that it was a frequently asked question, as my searches did not turn up answers that seemed in synch with my question.
The idea for approximating the force seems reasonable - thank you.
With regard to the statement that I need to be...
Hi there,
I'm interested in the force required to jump. It's been a decade since physics, my old copy of Serway is 1,000 miles away, and I can't remember enough about solving the problem to put proper keywords into a Google search (yeah, it's pathetic).
I remember enough about Newtonian...