G8-Basketball on the Moon-700-800L-03

Your teacher explained that although the astronauts’ masses remained the same when they traveled to the Moon, their weight changed due to less gravitational pull. Another astronaut named Alan Shepard took a golf club to the Moon. Using only one hand to swing the club, he estimated he hit a golf ball really far, about 200 yards. “Hmmm! Just maybe…” you think to yourself just as your brother makes another basket.

On the Moon, you are still only 4’ 8’’ tall. Short of removing an arm or a leg, your mass will always be the same. You are still made of the same amount of matter, whether you are on Earth or the Moon. However, your weight will not remain the same. Your weight, or in other words the gravitational force pulling down on you, will change depending on the size of the planet you are on, or in this case the Moon. So if there is less gravity holding you down, does that mean you can jump higher?

The force of gravity imposed by an object is related to the mass of an object. The Moon has less mass than Earth. In fact, the Moon’s mass is only 1/6 of the Earth’s mass; therefore, it has less gravity. Having less gravity means the force pulling things toward the Moon’s surface is not as strong as the gravitational force on Earth. In theory, you could jump six times higher on the Moon. That’s easily enough height for one very fancy slam dunk. It might even be enough to throw a back-flip into the move just to impress the fans.

Okay, you think, maybe that is not really practical, but it sure is fun to think about. Around that time, your brother runs towards you and tosses you the ball. That’s your signal to take his place on the court. Your brother tells you to have fun as he grabs a towel to wipe the sweat from his face and sits down on the bench. “Don’t forget, little brother, you promised to help me with my homework this afternoon,” he yells.