Caravan Report

[SoonerNorm]

I used to work on Trajectory applications for Space Shuttle so I have some idea of how this works . In the most basic view, t = √(2h/g) is always the correct answer but there is some discrepancy when adding a horizontal component. I'll explain in a minute. The best long jumper is the one who is very fast (thus distance through the air before gravity pulls him to earth) and one who can get very high (vertical height thus taking gravity longer to return him to earth). So, if one jumps exactly straight up, the longest hang time is the person who can jump the highest. However (here's the rub), if the force used to jump upwards is modified to an angle (horizontally if you will), the hang time will really depend on how long it takes to reach the highest point (and thus gravity will return him (it in the case of a football being kicked) to earth. So a football kicked downfield 40 yards that reaches its highest point 30 yards downfield (and thus took longer to reach its highest point) will spend more time in the air than one which is kicked 5 yards downfield but has the same highest point as the former (confused yet ).

All that being said, if one thinks of hang time as the person with highest vertical jump or footbal kicked the highest, he's going to be right almost all the time.

I guess you do have to be a physicists or a rocket scientist to understand all of this. Glad to have you and Banjo help out where some of us didn't really know where to start.

 

[garyeb2]

I appreciate the rocket scientist coming out of the woodwork to explain it. But, this concept is covered at the HS school level.

Consider a rifle barrel held perfectly level 1 meter off the ground. And then fired. (in a vacuum) Then consider a bullet held in the hand and dropped from exactly the same height and dropped at exactly the same time. Both rounds hit the ground at the same time. Velocity has no effect on gravity.

 

[35TangoTango]

I appreciate the rocket scientist coming out of the woodwork to explain it. But, this concept is covered at the HS school level.

Consider a rifle barrel held perfectly level 1 meter off the ground. And then fired. (in a vacuum) Then consider a bullet held in the hand and dropped from exactly the same height and dropped at exactly the same time. Both rounds hit the ground at the same time. Velocity has no effect on gravity.

That's only true if the rifle barrel is perfectly level with the ground, and therefore not relevant to our discussion. If the rifle is pointed upward, it will take the bullet much longer to hit the ground than one dropped.

I like the previous explanation that the object that takes the longest to reach it's highest point will have the most hang time.

 

[garyeb2]

That's only true if the rifle barrel is perfectly level with the ground, and therefore not relevant to our discussion. If the rifle is pointed upward, it will take the bullet much longer to hit the ground than one dropped.

I like the previous explanation that the object that takes the longest to reach it's highest point will have the most hang time.

I said perfectly level and in a vacuum. The point isn't rifle barrels. It is velocity has no effect on gravity. And yes, the higher one jumps or the father a ball is kicked the longer the air time is a perfectly good and reasonable explanation.

What isn't perfectly reasonable is the concept of hang time. Or the notion that some individuals have some super human ability to stay in the air longer than other people. If some player stays in the air longer than other it is because they jumped higher.

 

[sybarite]

I said perfectly level and in a vacuum. The point isn't rifle barrels. It is velocity has no effect on gravity. And yes, the higher one jumps or the father a ball is kicked the longer the air time is a perfectly good and reasonable explanation.

What isn't perfectly reasonable is the concept of hang time. Or the notion that some individuals have some super human ability to stay in the air longer than other people. If some player stays in the air longer than other it is because they jumped higher.

Gravity has a component of acceleration, which includes rate of increase of velocity.

I don't know if anyone believes that some people are unaffected by the laws of physics. It becomes a question of perception and how any longer time in the air might be possible. The inclusion of an explanation of the horizontal trajectories does add something to the understanding.

 

[gosooner2]

So was Amanda faster than a speeding bullet?

 

[Oliver Hardy]

I am in awe of each of you trying to out-scientific each other. It's highly amusing. Thanks.

 

[sybarite]

I am in awe of each of you trying to out-scientific each other. It's highly amusing. Thanks.

I'm rather pleased that we have people who did learn enough to be able to ask some questions, and I rather appreciate the input from Tango, Banjo, rrrsooner, and Norm on the subject.

 

[sybarite]

So was Amanda faster than a speeding bullet?

I guess that it depends upon the airplane in which she is riding.

 

[rocjunkie]

I'm rather pleased that we have people who did learn enough to be able to ask some questions, and I rather appreciate the input from Tango, Banjo, rrrsooner, and Norm on the subject.

+1.

 

[Oliver Hardy]

And I appreciated it all very much too, Syb. It was truly, truly informative in many, many ways.

I'm not kidding. It was.

 

[SoonerShamrock]

So was Amanda faster than a speeding bullet?

I'm not so sure about that, but I'm fairly certain she was able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!