nearest i could get....

was if all the people in china jumped off of chairs at the same time would it throw the planet off of its orbit? first of all china is a poor country and doesnt have sufficient chairs and furthermore, many of the chairs that are available are of nonuniform height, meaning that even if all the Chinese jumped off at the same time, they'd hit the ground at different times, throwing off the results. the internet also points out that, discipline among the chinese people has become lax since the cultural revolution, and that many of the participants in the project would likely be distracted when they were supposed to be jumping. the chinese government suggests that instead of having the entire nation jump off chairs, i should get one representative citizen to jump and multiply the results by 1,027,000,000. i have, needless to say, rejected this solution as grossly inadequate.

the possibility of an actual test thus being remote, I've been forced to work this out on the basis of reason alone, to wit: given that every action has an equal and opposite reaction, when the Chinese get up on their chairs, they'd essentially be pushing the earth down in the process of elevating themselves. Then, when they jumped off, the earth would simultaneously spring back, attracted by the gravitational mass of one billion airborne Chinese, with the result that the Chinese and the earth would meet somewhere in the middle, if you follow me. The upshot of this is that action and reaction would cancel each other out and the earth would remain in orbit.

Just for fun, let us suppose 1,000,000,000 Chinese, give or take 27,000,000, were somehow to materialize atop chairs without their having to elevate themselves thereto. And suppose they jumped off.

it is calculated that the resultant thud in aggregate would be the equivalent of 500 tons of TNT. Not bad, but nowhere near enough to dislocate the earth, which weighs 6 sextillion, 588 quintillion short tons.

Posted By: Tombs on November 17th 2010 at 21:22:11

Message Thread

Just nipping to the shop. Before I go, quick question for the pen boys. (General Chat) - tudders, Nov 17, 20:27:41
- Jayson Blair told us the wrath doesn't read books. (n/m) (General Chat) - usacanary, Nov 17, 20:56:51
- it would have no effect at all (General Chat) - Tombs, Nov 17, 20:43:43
  - Almost, not quite. He might come back very slightly younger (General Chat) - Arizona Bay, Nov 17, 20:47:01
    - but he'd still be older (General Chat) - Tombs, Nov 17, 20:49:19
      - Depends on the relative speed between him and people on earth. (General Chat) - Arizona Bay, Nov 17, 20:56:48
        
        i hope he's made up a packing list and checked over all his eqpt (General Chat) - Tombs, Nov 17, 21:00:23
        
        I'm packed and pretty much ready to go. (General Chat) - tudders, Nov 17, 21:14:14
        
        Right well, there's what 6,000,000,000 of us. Say at an average of 75kg each? (General Chat) - Arizona Bay, Nov 17, 21:29:53
        
        So why are we here? (n/m) (General Chat) - tudders, Nov 17, 21:51:29
        
        Boobs. (n/m) (General Chat) - Arizona Bay, Nov 17, 22:06:46
        
        hang on i shall check the internet..... (n/m) (General Chat) - Tombs, Nov 17, 21:15:21
        
        nearest i could get.... (General Chat) - Tombs, Nov 17, 21:22:11
        
        Who the fuck 'weighed' the Earth? (n/m) (General Chat) - tudders, Nov 17, 21:29:34
        
        magnus pyke (n/m) (General Chat) - Tombs, Nov 17, 21:30:27
        
        Did that woman of Magpie hold it for him? (n/m) (General Chat) - tudders, Nov 17, 21:34:49
        
        her and that jack hargreaves off of "HOW?" (General Chat) - Tombs, Nov 17, 21:36:17
- fuck thats done my head in that has. (n/m) (General Chat) - lovely old job, Nov 17, 20:39:19
- If your space station is travelling very quick relative to us left on earth, then you will (General Chat) - Arizona Bay, Nov 17, 20:38:03
- it means you touch yourself at night (n/m) (General Chat) - Brandonio, Nov 17, 20:33:09
- B, the mary option (n/m) (General Chat) - Jumbo1, Nov 17, 20:29:48
- fatter-if thats possible (n/m) (General Chat) - selwyn, Nov 17, 20:29:06
  - It's good, but it's not right. (n/m) (General Chat) - tudders, Nov 17, 20:33:33
  - lol (n/m) (General Chat) - lurd, Nov 17, 20:32:25
  - he asked the pen boys not the penis (n/m) (General Chat) - Jumbo1, Nov 17, 20:30:35
    - oi, I am the cock around here. (n/m) (General Chat) - lovely old job, Nov 17, 20:32:33

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