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View Full Version : Restoring force


magus
Oct 15, 2007, 03:36 PM
At the swimming pool, you notice that different people make the diving board bend down by different amounts. Assuming that the diving board behaves like a spring, explain how you could you determine the weight of everybody that used the diving board if you knew the weight of one person who used it.

bignaked101
Oct 15, 2007, 04:36 PM
Lets say the person with the known weight is person X, all lighter weights are Y, and heavier weights are Z.

If you observe person X jump on this diving board, you will observe exactly how far the diving board bends.

If person Y jumps on this diving board, you can conclude that his weight is lighter than person X because the diving board bends less.

If person Z jumps on the board, you can conclude that he is heavier because the diving board will bend more.