What If Everyone JUMPED At Once?

If the whole world jumped at the same time would the planet move? Duration: 3:59

Presenter Greg Foot investigates the urban myth that if the whole population of the world jumped at the same time, it could cause an earthquake big enough to affect the speed at which the Earth turns on its axis. He starts by looking at data which showed that a Japanese earthquake that measured 8.9 on the Richter scale caused the rotation of the Earth to speed up by 2ms per day. To produce his data he asks 50,000 people at the Reading festival to all jump at the same time. This causes an earthquake that measures 0.6 on the Richter scale. Greg then calculates that if the whole population of the Earth, i.e. 6.9b people jumped up and down at the same time, it would still be a factor of seven million short of altering the speed at which the Earth rotates. QED the myth is false. First broadcast on BBC Learning Zone and BBC3 in March 2012 as part of the series The Secrets of Everything. Subject: Science Topic: Phys: Forces - Contact and Non-contact Article Sources: Click Here