Always been a fan of cliff jumping/diving but never thought of it in terms of physics until now. I've realized that it is a perfect example of a free fall. When jumping from a cliff, person goes into free fall and gravity is the only force acting on his/her body besides air resistance. Gravity pulls you toward the water at a rate of 9.8 meters per second squared, meaning every second your speed (velocity) would increase by 9.8m/s going downwards. Therefore, the longer you fall, the faster you go. Higher cliffs don't accelerate the fall because acceleration is constant during the whole time, in this case acceleration is the gravity (-9.8m/s^2). But what cliff height does, it affects the speed with which the person hits the water.
Evgenija
Excellent -- great example here!
ReplyDelete