If you had to jump from very high, what would you use as a parachute?

  • Thread starter Thread starter djh101
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Jump Parachute
Join the discussion
Registration is free. Start your own thread to ask a follow-up.
36 replies · 22K views
I like how Mythbusters goes through the effort of testing myths that could easily be busted just by writing a few equations on a whiteboard.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
In fact, when you are close to the ground, throwing the chair to the ground with all the force helps by a tiny bit. (by the third law)
 
I think I have a strategy here. Please let me know if this will work at least theoretically.

Hold a heavy metal ball (preferably as heavy as you), like the one used in hammer throw. While you fall down, keep it rotating vertically, such a way that the upward swing of the metal ball is barely enough to make a full rotation, the downward part is as fast as you can, so that you go upwards.

When you are close to the ground, the ball hits the ground first, and you are in the top position.
 
Assume you aren't moving and find out how much your velocity would change in that scenario. Then subtract it from how fast you will be going right before you hit the ground. Jumping directly off of the ground is about as much force as you will get to propel yourself from your body alone, and that will get you going... 5m/s? So that should take you from 100m/s to 95m/s when falling.

By conservation of linear momentum, jumping off of a non-moving body (the earth) will give an upper bound of propulsive velocity. Since the chair or shotput are changing their velocity as well, your change in velocity will be less.
 
A smoking jacket and pipe. So I could die in style
 
An RPG launcher. Fire it down and hopefully the recoil will save me if I time it properly :-p

I might die from the blast though.
 
consciousness said:
An RPG launcher. Fire it down and hopefully the recoil will save me if I time it properly :-p

I might die from the blast though.

Hmmm, let me think about this.

*four years and a PhD later*

...it wouldn't work! :-p