Eli5: why when I’m standing on a moving train and I jump, the train doesn’t move around me?

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Eli5: why when I’m standing on a moving train and I jump, the train doesn’t move around me?

In: Physics

18 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

When you stand on the train, you are connected to the train.

Power is used to push the train, and because you are attached to it, you move as well (you sometimes feel a jolt as your body matches the speed of the train at the beginning).

Because you’re attached to the train, when it gets faster, you get faster. When the train hits it’s too speed, and stops going faster, you are travelling at the same speed as the train.

When you jump upwards, you’re still travelling at the same speed. Nothing is slowing you down. Nothing else is pushing on you.

If you were to jump when the train was still getting faster, there would be a little bit of movement under you in the time that you were jumping, and you may feel a little jolt when you land again, like when you first started.

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