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Escaping celestial bodies
- Thread starter Arkenis
- Start date
- 2,307
- 2,077
really depends on what you mean by this.
you, as a regular human, can - in a way - overpower earth's gravity by jumping. you're going upwards, until it pulls you back down.
context is key here, since your original description doesn't exactly convey the point i assume you're trying to make.
- 2,307
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escape velocity is, notably, for non-propelled objects - if the object or person or thing is flying or generating their own propulsion somehow, escape velocity isn't what you'd use.
formula's here for speed, which isn't really an LS thing..
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overpowering earth's gravity isn't super-duper impressive - like i said, you're doing it every time you jump.
if you can already fly (i.e provide enough force against gravity to stay in the air) then yeah you don't need any extra LS to escape earth's pull.
this is only the case if something is non-propelled, i.e it isn't producing its own force.
think of it like this - if i wanted to put a rock in space, i'd need to throw it at escape velocity. because the moment that rock leaves my hands, gravity will try and pull it back down, so it needs to be moving fast enough to escape before it gets pulled down again.
a rocket does not have this problem because its thrusters are constantly providing force.
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Basically, you just need to overcome the force you are exerting on the planet to lift yourself off the surface, therefore "overcoming gravity".
Jumping is one way, though the mechanics of a jump is actually pretty complex, as the angle of the knees may increase or decrease the force required to lift yourself off the ground.
But as a rule of thumb:
If force generated by jumping > force exerted by standing, then surface gravity is overcame.
Say a 60kg person stood on a planet with 10 m/s² of gravity, that would be a force of 600 Newtons by standing, and to overcome that, their jump must reach over 600 Newtons.
But that's an oversimplification, the mechanics behind jumping are complicated.
Jumping is one way, though the mechanics of a jump is actually pretty complex, as the angle of the knees may increase or decrease the force required to lift yourself off the ground.
But as a rule of thumb:
If force generated by jumping > force exerted by standing, then surface gravity is overcame.
Say a 60kg person stood on a planet with 10 m/s² of gravity, that would be a force of 600 Newtons by standing, and to overcome that, their jump must reach over 600 Newtons.
But that's an oversimplification, the mechanics behind jumping are complicated.
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Going by Work-Energy Theorem, (Person Mass * 0.5 * (Escape Velocity)^2) / Distance Legs Move from crouch to full extension (typically 1/3rd the height) = Newtons
