Could All the People in the World Jumping at Once Budge the Earth?
Students often ask at this time what would happen if all people in the world got together and jumped in one place. Setting aside impracticalities of this, a "back of the envelope calculation" is given to show that not much would occur. Assuming a mass of 100kg for every person on earth (an overestimate) and assuming 8 billion people, the earth still masses more than a billion times the product of these numbers.
Could All the People in the World Jumping at Once Budge the Earth?
Students often ask at this time what would happen if all people in the world got together and jumped in one place. Setting aside impracticalities of this, a "back of the envelope calculation" is given to show that not much would occur. Assuming a mass of 100kg for every person on earth (an overestimate) and assuming 8 billion people, the earth still masses more than a billion times the product of these numbers.