Design a "bungee jump" apparatus.

A bungee jumper falls from a high platform with two elastic cords tied to the ankles. The jumper falls freely for a while, when the cord is slack. Then the jumper falls an additional distance when the cord is increasingly tense. Assume that you have cords that are ten meters long, and that the cords stretch in the jump for an additional 20 meters for an average jumper.

a) Make a series of simple diagrams, like a comic strip,showing the platform, the jumper, and the two cords at various times in the fall and the rebound. On each diagram, draw and label vectors representing the forces acting on the jumper, and the jumper's velocity. Make the relative lengths of the vectors reflect their relative magnitudes.

b) At what instant is there the greatest tension in the cords? How do you know?

c) What is the jumper's speed at this instant?

d) Is the jumper's momentum changing at this instant or not?(That is, is dp/dt non-zero, or zero?) Explain briefly.

e) Focus on this instant, and use the principles of this chapter to determine the spring's stiffness k(sub-s) for each cord.Explain your analysis. Give numerical values for your design.

f) What is the maximum tension that each cord must support without breaking? Give numerical values for your design.

g) What is the maximum acceleration ("g's") that the jumper experiences? What is the direction of this maximum acceleration?

h) State clearly what approximations and estimations you have made in your design.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Well assume that the cord obeys Hookes Law but it only pulls the jumper towards equilibrium that is to say the cord stretches but doesnt compress a At ... View the full answer