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Jumping on Mars

Gravity and orbits · level 1, lesson 5 of 6

A question to start

Jump as high as you can. Ask someone to watch how high your feet get off the ground. Now imagine doing the same jump on Mars, with the same legs and the same push. Would you go higher, lower or the same?

The idea

Mars is smaller than the Earth, and it pulls less hard. On Mars you would weigh a bit more than one third of what you weigh here. Your legs would be just as strong, but gravity would pull you back down much more gently.

So the same jump sends you higher: almost three times as high. You would also stay in the air for longer, about two and a half times as long.

30 cm80 cm EarthMars
Mars Earth
How hard the planet pulls (Earth = 1) 0.38 1
A child who weighs 30 kg on Earth's scales would read 11 kg 30 kg
A jump that reaches 30 cm on Earth reaches about 80 cm 30 cm

You would not float away. Gravity on Mars is still strong enough to bring you back down every time. But you could jump onto a kitchen table from the floor, and a fall would hurt less.

On the Moon, which pulls even less, the same jump would go about six times as high as on Earth. Astronauts there hopped like kangaroos.

Worked examples

1. Over a box. You can jump over a box 20 cm tall on Earth. On Mars you could clear a box almost three times as tall: about 55 cm.

2. A slow landing. On Earth a jump lasts about half a second. On Mars the same jump would last more than a second, long enough to say "one, two" in the air.

Try it

  1. Does Mars pull harder or less hard than the Earth?
  2. You jump 20 cm high on Earth. About how high on Mars?
  3. Would you stay in the air for longer or shorter on Mars?
  4. Why can't you just float away on Mars?
Answers
  1. Less hard: a bit more than a third as hard.
  2. About three times as high: a bit under 60 cm.
  3. Longer, about two and a half times as long.
  4. Mars still pulls you down, just more gently, so you always come back.

Common mistake

"There is no gravity on Mars." There is: everything on Mars is pulled down, just with a bit more than a third of the pull you feel at home. Rovers drive on the ground and dust settles on them, because gravity holds them down.

Where it leads