1. Jumping on the Moon
You may have heard that a person’s weight on earth is different than their weight on the
moon. This has to do with the gravitational pull of the moon. The moon is about ¼ the size of
earth, which means the gravitational pull is much less than what is experienced on earth. The
smaller gravitational pull would also affect the jumping ability of people on the moon. A person
with an 8 inch vertical on earth would have a 48 in vertical on the moon. Imagine if the NBA
played games on the moon! Lebron James has a 40 inch vertical. How high could he jump on the
moon?
A) Estimate how high LBJ could jump on the moon.
B) Make a table of values to figure out how high you could jump on the moon for various
heights you could jump on earth.
Jump
Height
on
Earth
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Jump
Height
on the
Moon
C) Write a simple equation so that given any height (x) you jump on earth, you can
easily figure out how high you could jump on the Moon (y).
D) Draw a graph to represent the relationship.
2. Where is the slope represented in the table?
Where is the slope represented in the equation?
Where is the slope represented in the graph?