Bungee Madness Experiment

Aim
To make a successful bungee jump

Materials
500 g mass, 50 elastic bands, 1 meter stick

Method
• Use the elastic bands to construct a bungee cord.
• You may assume that the cord is elastic with a spring constant k = 5.0 Nm-1.
• Remember that the energy stored in a stretched spring is given by E = 1/2kx2 where x is the extension of the spring from its non stretched length, while the potential energy of a mass m at height h is given by mgh, where g = 9.8 ms-2 is the acceleration due to gravity.

Conditions
• The mass must be dropped from the indicated height h above the surface of the water and at full extent reach within the designated 30 cm wide target zone.
• Only the materials provided may be used.
• As many jumps as required may be made BUT
• Each jump must be witnessed by a judge.
• A fifteen minute time penalty will be awarded if the mass hits the water (jumper is dead)
• A ten minute time penalty will be awarded if the bottom of the mass does not reach the top of the target zone (jumper is a coward!)
• No practice jumps of any kind are allowed (i.e. NO test drops!)

Ranking
The ranking order will be determined by the time taken to achieve a successful jump.