File talk:Mostar Brückenspringer Trevor Multi.jpg

physics as detective

The photo seems to depicture the jump of only ONE person. It shows this man during the fall that is accelerated by gravity. Therefore the distances (inbetween) from step to step increases with growing velocity. At least during the main (and middle) portion of the travel.

The time lap between the first an second position must be bigger, as position 1 (at the reling) and 2 show a (much) bigger distance, than 2 and 3. If on pos. 1 the man stands still (and rather still) at the reling the camera started the equi-timestepped series with pos. 2. Another possibility would be that a step between the shown 1st and 2nd has been erased by picture editing.

The last step - the water sprinkling pretty vertically upwards - shows geometrically (vertically) nearer to the step before than equi-timestepped would let expect. This is because the water drops have already risen in time, while the jumper dives (an decelerates) under the water surface. During the dive-in the water flow of the river moves and "take with" the water drops sprinkling up (and accelerate the jumper - no diver - horizontically as well). Therefore the spray (upcoming spillings) of waterdrops do not show to continue the parabola of the jump (in gravity) but at a certain offset. Even the leftmost edge of the white water is a little bit right of the imaginary parabola of the center of the gravity (near the pelvis-front) of the springer. The picture shows in this way, that the river flows to the right.

My first thought, the up-sprinkling water could be caused by another springer, that has reached the surface a little bit earlier, will not be correct. --Helium4 (talk) 10:46, 9 March 2012 (UTC)