Exploration
A bungee jumper leaps from a tall structure and falls toward the ground. The bungee cord begins to stretch and transfers the kinetic energy of the fall into elastic potential energy, slowing the jumper to a stop.The cord then pulls him/her back up as the elastic potential energy turns back into kinetic energy. The jumper then oscillates up and down until their energy is completely dissipated.
Objective
In this experiment, student will:
1. Diagram the forces a bungee jumper experiences based on PocketLab’s accelerometer data.
2. Explain what 1g of acceleration means.
3. Determine whether increasing or decreasing the mass of the bungee jumper changes the acceleration experienced.
4. Relate the observations made to Newton’s Second Law and the oscillation of the jumper.
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