The greater-than-g acceleration of a bungee jumper discussed in a previous article in this journal by Kagan and Kott1 led to many lively discussions among Dutch physics teachers. These inspired me to look for an inexpensive experimental setup, suitable for use in a high school physics class, that can be used to confirm that indeed the acceleration is greater than g. In this paper I describe an exercise to compare the predicted and the measured graphs for the displacement y(t) of the jumper and the force Fb(t) exerted by the bungee on the bridge to which it is fastened. In my apparatus, the “bungee” consists of a light chain and the “jumper” is a small piece of brass. Data collection and the calculation of predicted values were carried out using Coach.2 The analysis reliably leads to the conclusion that the acceleration of the falling jumper does indeed exceed g.
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April 2003
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April 01 2003
The Bungee Jumper: A Comparison of Predicted and Measured Values
Hubert Biezeveld
Hubert Biezeveld
OSG West-Friesland, Hoorn, The Netherlands
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Phys. Teach. 41, 238–241 (2003)
Citation
Hubert Biezeveld; The Bungee Jumper: A Comparison of Predicted and Measured Values. Phys. Teach. 1 April 2003; 41 (4): 238–241. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.1564507
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