What Would Happen If Everyone on Earth Jumped at Once?

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In summary, if all humans jumped at the same time and landed at the same time, the total energy expended would be approximately 6 trillion joules, equivalent to 1,434 tons of explosive. However, this amount of energy is only one-tenth as energetic as a very modest nuclear bomb and would not cause any global catastrophe. Additionally, attempting to coordinate the jumps in sequence may not have a significant impact on the Earth's surface.
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decibel
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what would happen if EVERYONE (humans) jumped at the same time and landed at the same time?...would there be a giant earthquake or what?
 
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As a rough estimate, let's say every human has a mass of 100 kg and can jump 1 meter high. Both of those numbers are higher than the average person attains, but not by a whole lot. The energy expended by a person is then mgz = 100 kg x 10 m/s^2 x 1 m, approximately. So each person expends about a thousand joules with one good leap. If there are six billion people jumping, you get 6 trillion joules of energy.

I went to this website:

http://www.onlineconversion.com/energy.htm

to convert to tons of explosive, and it told me that the total energy would be 1,434 tons of explosive, so call it a kiloton. I believe that a 10-kiloton nuclear bomb is a very modest one by today's standards. If you explode a very modest bomb near the ground surface in the middle of Nevada, does it even shake the buildings in Las Vegas enough that anyone would notice? The jumping-humans scenario would only be one-tenth as energetic. If you are worried about some global catastrophe, you need not fear.
 
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decibel said:
what would happen if EVERYONE (humans) jumped at the same time and landed at the same time?...would there be a giant earthquake or what?

I say we should do the experiment! But, as Janitor wrote, everyone jumping up and down at once wouldn't do much. So let's see if we can't improve the odds a bit. Let's have everyone jump up in sequence, say based on their lattitude, at t = 1:30:00 PM Greenwhich Time, July 1 - Latitude/60. This will start a wave that begins at the north pole at noon and takes three minutes to propogate to the south pole. I'm not a geologist, so I'm not sure if the timing is right, but that works out to a propagation speed of 88 miles per hour through the center of the earth. With a little luck, the waves will reinforce constructively.

Everybody willing to join in?
 

1. What would happen to the Earth if everyone jumped at once?

If everyone on Earth were to jump at the exact same time, the Earth would experience a slight increase in its rotation speed. This is because the combined force of millions of people jumping would create a small change in the distribution of the Earth's mass, causing it to rotate slightly faster.

2. Would the Earth's orbit be affected if everyone jumped at once?

No, the Earth's orbit would not be significantly affected by everyone jumping at once. The Earth's orbit is primarily determined by its mass and the gravitational pull of the sun, which would not be affected by the collective jump of humans.

3. Could jumping all at once cause an earthquake?

No, the force of everyone jumping at once would not be strong enough to cause an earthquake. Earthquakes are typically caused by movements in tectonic plates, which are much larger and more powerful than a collective jump.

4. Would jumping all at once have any impact on the Earth's magnetic field?

No, the Earth's magnetic field is primarily generated by the movement of its liquid metal core, not by human actions. Therefore, jumping all at once would not have any significant impact on the Earth's magnetic field.

5. Could jumping all at once have any negative effects on the Earth?

No, the collective jump of humans would not have any negative effects on the Earth. While it may cause a slight increase in the Earth's rotation speed, this would not cause any major disruptions or harm to the planet.

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