The High Jump

Clearing a bar your centre of mass doesn’t

An interactive lesson with 7 steps, about 6 minutes: you predict, drag and solve, with instant feedback on every answer. It runs in your browser and needs JavaScript.

What you’ll learn

• In the air, the centre of mass follows a fixed parabola.
• Take-off speed $v = \sqrt{2gh}$ sets the rise of the centre of mass.
• The Fosbury flop lets the body clear a bar its centre of mass passes under.

Steps

1. The centre of mass rules
2. Take-off speed
3. Why the flop won
4. Under the bar
5. Pole vault energy
6. Clearing 2 metres
7. Jumping on the Moon