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Consider what happens when you jump up in the air. Which of the following is the most accurate statement? Consider what happens when you jump up in the air. Which of the following is the most accurate statement? Since the ground is stationary, it cannot exert the upward force necessary to propel you into the air. Instead, it is the internal forces of your muscles acting on your body itself that propels your body into the air. You are able to spring up because the earth exerts a force upward on you that is greater than the downward force you exert on the earth. It is the upward force exerted by the ground that pushes you up, but this force cannot exceed your weight. When you jump up the earth exerts a force F1 on you and you exert a force F2 on the earth. You go up because F1 > F2. When you push down on the earth with a force greater than your weight, the earth will push back with the same magnitude force and thus propel you into the air.

User Twinterer
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2 Answers

3 votes

Final answer:

The correct explanation for jumping is due to Newton's third law, where the upward force exerted by the ground is equal to the downward force exerted by the person jumping. Due to the earth's much larger mass, its acceleration is negligible compared to that of the jumper.

Step-by-step explanation:

When considering what happens when you jump up in the air, the most accurate statement is that when you push down on the earth with a force greater than your weight, the earth will push back with the same magnitude force and thus propel you into the air. This is a demonstration of Newton's third law of motion, which states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. While the force of gravity pulls you down towards the earth, it is the internal forces of your muscles exerting a force on the ground that allows you to jump upward. By doing so, the ground exerts an equal and opposite force upward, which propels you into the air.

Despite the equal force exerted on both you and the earth, due to the massive difference in mass, the earth experiences an imperceptibly small acceleration, while you are able to move much more substantially. This also ties into the concept of momentum, where both the jumper and the earth experience the same total change in momentum, but since the earth's mass is so large, it barely accelerates, whereas you move much more noticeably.

User Ruben Miquelino
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Complete Question

Consider what happens when you jump up in the air. Which of the following is the most accurate statement?

A

Since the ground is stationary, it cannot exert the upward force necessary to propel you into the air. Instead, it is the internal forces of your muscles acting on your body itself that propels your body into the air.

B

You are able to spring up because the earth exerts a force upward on you that is greater than the downward force you exert on the earth.

C

It is the upward force exerted by the ground that pushes you up, but this force cannot exceed your weight.

D

When you jump up the earth exerts a force F1 on you and you exert a force F2 on the earth. You go up because F1 > F2.

E

When you push down on the earth with a force greater than your weight, the earth will push back with the same magnitude force and thus propel you into the air

Answer:

The correct option is E

Step-by-step explanation:

Generally from Newton law which states that for very action there is an equal and opposite reaction, so when you push down on the earth with a force greater than your weight, the earth will push back with the same magnitude force and thus propel you into the air

User Pcu
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