Bungee Jumping

Bungee Jumping#

Emilia decides to go bungee jumping. Starting atop a very high bridge, elastic cords are tied to their feet and they jump off the bridge. Once Emilia has fallen a certain distance, the force of the bungee cords slows their descent until they are at the lowest point.

Part 1#

If the system under consideration is: Emilia, the air, and the earth; discuss the work done by the bungee cord as Emilia descends. Assume the positive y direction is up.

Answer Section#

  • The tension points down, and Emilia moves down, so negative work is done.

  • The tension points up, and Emilia moves down, so negative work is done.

  • The tension points up, and Emilia moves down, so positive work is done.

  • The tension point up, and Emilia moves up, so positive work is done.

Attribution#

Problem is licensed under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
The Creative Commons 4.0 license requiring attribution-BY, non-commercial-NC, and share-alike-SA license.