Jump to content
  • entries
    31
  • comments
    43
  • views
    4,462

Physics of a Trampoline


Cvankerkhove

1,879 views

A very fun activity to do on a sunny day is jump on a trampoline. Fun for all ages, a trampoline makes it easy to get major air. What exactly is behind this mechanism of a trampoline flinging a person into the air? Well let's talk physics in terms of energy.

Let's say that our reference level is where one stands on the trampoline. As soon as a person stands on a trampoline the webbing is stretched and sinks down to equilibrium. This is similar to our lab experiment of placing a mass on a vertical hanging spring. Now once a person stretches below equilibrium (by pressing down a force and/or jumping up) the fun begins. A person has a potential energy at the top of their jump, and this is converted into kinetic energy as they move, which is then turned into spring potential energy, when a person stretches below equilibrium level. 

This idealogy is the basic physical concept of a trampoline. With this knowledge a person can incorporate cool and crazy tricks to do on a trampoline. 

5 Comments


Recommended Comments

Guest
Add a comment...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...