Resource Portal

Here you can find STEM education resources.

Search and filter below, according to your preferences, to find free activities, videos or webinars to use.

The Bungee Jumper: a simple mathematical model

Exploring the energy transfers as a bungee jumper falls by considering each of the three stores (kinetic, gravitational and elastic) as a function of x and then summing.

Publisher: T³ Europe

Author: Ian Galloway

Topic:  STEM

Tags  Acceleration ,  Algebra ,  Dynamic Simulations ,  Functions ,  Mathematical thinking ,  Mechanics ,  Modeling ,  Physics ,  Sharing Inspiration 2019 ,  Stochastics ,  Sustainability

Exploring the energy transfers as a bungee jumper falls by considering each of the three stores (kinetic, gravitational and elastic) as a function of x and then summing.  Most text books ignore the problem and only consider energy conservation in horizontally oscillating systems as then there are only two stores to consider.  Some texts even state that the vertically oscillating system is too difficult to analyse, but here, using dynamic geometry the solution is easy to see!

Creative Commons license - Attribution

 

 More info: creativecommons.org.