Expert: Tom Whiting - 3/12/2008

Question
Given that the moons gravity is 1/6 of what it is on earth will we be able to run faster on the moon?
Also there will be less resistance of air...
But I'll guess it will take longer to gain speed on the moon...

To simplify we could assume that the person is running inside a space camp on the moon, so no clumsy space suite.

Best regards
Ove  

Answer
Hi Ove,
Good thing you said, without a spacesuit inside a closed dome
space-camp, because the spacesuits are heavy and bulky.

But in a space camp, well there would then still be the same air
resistance, wouldn't it?  But a 198 pound human would "feel like"
they only weigh 33 pounds, with still the same muscle mass.
No, it would be a shorter distance to gain speed under only 1/6 gravity!  So inside a domed space camp, the only thing different
would be the 1/6 g force....not the air or the temperature.

{It's on Jupiter, with some 20 times the Earth's gravity, you'd have trouble accelerating, because you'd weigh nearly 6000 pounds! IN fact, you couldn't even move on Jupiter as you'd die of suffocation under your own weight, if Jupiter had a hard surface...but it doesn't, being a gas giant.}
Mass doesn't change, only your weight...your mass would still be
6 slugs, in the English system.  198 lb divided by g, or 32 feet per
second per second, = ~ 6 slugs, or about 90 Kg mass in the metric system.

Remember watching those lift offs on the moon of the Lunar Lander?
They shot off their launch pad in less than one second, the upward acceleration was so fast, compared to the Earth's gravity!

So yes, ALL athletes would perform better...the broad jump
(record I believe is 30 or 31 feet) on the moon would probably
increase to well over 100 feet, and we could probably be looking at
a 3 minute mile record pace too.  The strides would be much much
longer on the moon.  When we stride on the earth, each step is
maybe 6 feet with an altitude of 2 feet high....this would probably
grow to 30 feet with each stride on the moon, with an altitude
of 10 - 12 feet high. Runners would look more like giraffes striding
as opposed to what we see on the Earth's surface for a runner.
And with the same speed of a giraffe too.
So yes, we could run much faster on the moon, provided our balance
system can adapt to those much longer, and higher, strides.
Balance may end up being the limiting factor.
Hope this helps,
Clear Skies,
Tom Whiting
Erie PA USA