People bouncing on trampolines: dramatic energy transfer, a table-top demonstration, complex dynamics and a zero sum game.

ABSTRACT: Jumping on trampolines is a popular backyard recreation. In some trampoline games (e.g., "seat drop war"), when two people land on the trampoline with only a small time-lag, one person bounces much higher than the other, as if energy has been transferred from one to the other. First, we illustrate this energy-transfer in a table-top demonstration, consisting of two balls dropped onto a mini-trampoline, landing almost simultaneously, sometimes resulting in one ball bouncing much higher than the other. Next, using a simple mathematical model of two masses bouncing passively on a massless trampoline with no dissipation, we show that with specific landing conditions, it is possible to transfer all the kinetic energy of one mass to the other through the trampoline - in a single bounce. For huma

SUBMITTER: Srinivasan M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3827250 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature