Quote:
Originally posted by Sticky
Let me rephrase a bit.
Let's say I did not jump ,my farthest but I just jumped an unspecified distance. Why can't I jump a little farther?
Who says that there is a limit to how far humans can possibly jump.
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Elementary physics says so.
How far a creature can jump depends on:
1) gravity
2) strength of leg muscles + back muscles
3) weight of creature
4) forward momentum (i.e. how far you ran before jumping)
It's very simple really: the human body can only expend a certain amount of energy to jump. This jump must move the human <b>up</b> and <b>forward</b>. The initial speed at which you move up, determines how long it will take for gravity to pull you back to the ground. This time directly relates to the distance you can move forward. This forward speed is pretty much linear, if we disregard any drag and such.
Suppose we take the extremes, with you standing still and then jumping:
1) you use all available energy to jump up. This means that you have a lot of speed upwards, and it will take a long time for you to get back on the ground. However, you did not get any speed forwards, and do not move an inch.
2) you use all your energy to jump forward. Because your feet do not leave the ground (for lack of upwards energy expenditure) this means you don't move at all (and might fall over, breaking your teeth).
Somewhere between these two extremes, one has an optimum, which gets you to your maximum jump distance. One could add forward speed from a bit of running before the jump, but this is limited by how fast one can physically run...
Now, as I said, there is only a limited amount of energy available for jumping, and it must be used to propel your weight into the sky. The heavier you are, the more energy this costs. The energy gained by adding extra muscle weight is therefore negated by that extra added weight.
Thus, there is a limit to how far you can jump. Q.E.D.
(By the way, if all of that didn't convince you: The maximum speed one can achieve is always less than the speed of light. Therefore, your forward and upward speeds are limited, which means gravity *will* pull you down eventually. This means that there is a theoretical maximum distance you can jump. Another bit of evidence that proves you wrong.
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