mj

Myself, the GF, her mate & her husband were watching that program last night on telly - Drop the celebrity.( ya know - they chuck Z list has beens out of a Hercules airplane, while strapped to some unlucky Para in a tandem jump )

GF's mate ( blonde BTW )

why is it, that when someone opens a parachute they go up ?

tried to explain they only go "up" from the camera's perspective, etec,etc,etc, blah,blah......wasted breath, "yeah, but they still go up "

had to give up in the end.

yoza

My better half thinks that each time the space shuttle takes off, it lands on the moon.

She said this with a straight face whilst we had friends around......OMG.

So yours is quite tame really.....

NACRO

Maybe they were taking the p1ss?

I hope so.

mj

no, she was serious, definateley.

LG John

Relative to the earth the chute goes down but relative to the person it actually goes up so I suppose you'd need set the parameters prior to the conversation. Technically you could say she was correct

But she's still blonde

midget1500

saxo boy - relative to the person it does not go up, it just slows down as the other "camera" person continues to fall and hence creates the perception of it "going up"

LG John

Relative to the person (not the earth) it does go up When we say relative to something we have to consider that as a fixed point in space even though it never is. For this reason we consider that the jumper is not moving (even though we all know he's falling relative to the earth) and when the chute is deployed it moves away (extends) from him in an upward manner - hence up

We give all our speeds relative to the earth and don't question them. For example, if I was driving 170mph against the rotation and direction of the earth I'd be going negative mph but I doubt that would hold in a court of law

Hanslow

But if you took into account the speed of the earth as it orbits the sun then you would be permanently speeding at approx 67,000 mph

Something you can always bring up in conversation to beat anything in a race (relatively)

LG John

Is that 3 points and a fine or a court appearance?

BOB.T

SB, surely the chute stops still(ish) and the person extends downwards from it

rik1471

This is bollox, nobody is "extending upwards", the unopened parachuter is still falling, as too is the opened parachuter. If I jump in the air, i'm moving upwards, the rest of the world isn't moving downwards.

MarkO

It's all down to personal perception, Rik. Who's to say that the world isn't moving downwards and you're staying stationary? If somebody in Australia jumps, are they jumping up, or down?

In fact, as somebody has said, the earth moves around the sun very quickly, and the sun moves within our galaxy, and that galaxy also moves. So movement is a relative thing.

If I'm on a train travelling at 100mph, and walk towards the rear of the train, relative to the train I'm moving backwards. However, relative to the earth, I'm probably moving forwards at about 97mhp.

You need to think a bit more philosophically (aka 'out of the box').

TelBoy

Where's Albert when you need him?

yoza

Surely if they went up they would never land

Maybe that would account for the massive missing persons list, they are all parachutists.

rik1471

MarkO - You need to *************

That may well be the case, or not but such a blatant disregard for the guidelines cannot be left unedited

D

[Edited by Diablo - 6/30/2003 1:01:22 PM]

ChrisB

Good to see reasoned debate still exists on ScoobyNet....

yoza

Now, now, play nicely.........

Spoon

Yoza- I've been studying this for years, you may be right.

All women are actually astronauts, or at least all the women i've ever known are.

After being with them for some time they always say they need space!

rik1471

LG John

This is correct if you measure relative to the chute

As I said earlier if we measure relative to the person we have to assume that the person is a fixed obeject that is not moving just as we regard the earth (most of the time) as a fixed and stationary object (even though it moves very fast). So lets assume the jumper pulled the rip cord when on the ground and the same effect occurd (even though this is impossible as he is not falling) the chute would extend outwards from the jumper in (to his perception) an upwards manner. Hence, relative to the jumper the chute moves up....even though it of course does not

That said we all exist in a 3D environment so what is up or down anyway? We've no fixed point to base this on

yoza

My other half has just shouted through, "I may be an astronaught, because Im going out with a SpaceMan".

Charming........

ASTRONAUTS ASTRONAUTS ASTRONAUTS ASTRONAUTS

[Edited by yoza - 6/30/2003 1:11:42 PM]

rik1471

I'm only joking - CAME ON YOU FACKIN SLAAAAGS!

MarkO

Thanks for that reasoned and intellectual response, Rik. You've just confirmed what I suspected already.

yoza

Rik,
Have you had your medication this morning?
If so, double it up!

rik1471

ROFLMBFBAOMFFTIFONF! - I wish Scoobynet had a spellchecker.

yoza

oopps........

Yet an uver clasicc!

TelBoy

ROFLMBFBAOMFFTIFONF

I'm intrigued, but i dare not ask!

BOB.T

Yeah but....the person is still falling at the same rate where the chute is slowing, therefore the person extends downwards from the chute.

I see you're point but still think you're full of sh*t!LOLJOKE Is it a case of chute surge?.....someone had to!

Ratman

Too deep. I'm just off down the pub up the road...

Ratman.

LG John

The word 'from' suggest that the object this refers to is the reference point. In the case of the above quote, the chute The word 'downwards' reinfoces this by suggesting the person is moving dowards from the chute which is correct

I said right in my first post that if we consider the person as the reference point (and that that point is not moving) then the reverse must be true.....the chute moves upwards from the person. How its achieving this (i.e. falling at a different rate, rocked powered or mind control is irrelevant) Its still moving upward from that persons perspective

Agreed with the pub sentiment but these totally pointless debates can be fun