4 ms·
Very edited: Ah, so the human's mass can be heavy compared to the bungee cord, but if that's the case then the duration of the superman effect would be short.
by tedsanders 13y ago
Very edited: Ah, so the human's mass can be heavy compared to the bungee cord, but if that's the case then the duration of the superman effect would be short.
- wtallis 13y agoIn the limiting case of an ultralight bungee cord, the human has to start falling almost immediately after the cord is cut, because the center of mass cannot fall as required without movement of the human as well. This incidentally gives us lower bounds on the speed of sound and stiffness of such a bungee cord. In order for the human to be held aloft for any significant period of time by the recoiling bungee cord after it is cut, the cord must be relatively heavy - enough to move the center of mass of the cord+human system well away from the human.