The stunt
The best natural grandstand in the city is a hill in Forest Park. The crowd sits on the grass. The ramps are at the bottom. This is also where the Solve the Jump finals happen, so the students who did the math watch it get tested.
The work
Building a landing that matches the flight. Bigger gaps on flat ground first.
The night
A spring evening, blankets on the hill, student teams down front with their predictions, and the telemetry settling it.
Solve the Jump
Why do big jumps land on a down-ramp?
Falling builds downward speed. Land flat and the ground has to stop all of it at once. Land on a slope that matches your path and the ground only has to stop a small part of it.
Worked example: a 1.5-meter drop gives about 5.4 meters per second downward, around 12 mph. What landing-ramp angle matches the flight path, and how much of the hit does it take away?
The physicsDownward speed at landing = √(2 × g × height fallen)
What gets measured
- Takeoff speed and angle
- Distance and height
- Landing force, compared with each team's prediction
What has to be true first
- A park event permit
- The turf protected under the ramps and the run-up
- Crowd lines set well back from the landing