QUESTION:

1. The 1996 olympic gold medal winning distance for throwing an 8 lb.
shotput on Earth was 70 feet 11 inches. What would the throw be on Mars if
you threw the same shot put and how did you figure this out?

2. Would the lesser gravity on Mars effect speed in running events? The 1996
olympic gold medal winning time for the 100m on Earth was 9.84 seconds. What
would the time be on Mars and how did you figure it out? Is this possible to
figure out?

ANSWER from Jim Bell on March 27, 1998:
1. Martian gravity is only 38% of Earth gravity, so my guess would be that
the shotput could travel 62% (100%-38%) farther on Mars than on Earth, or
about 113 feet. Mars has a thinner atmosphere, too, so atmospheric drag
would be less and so the shotput could probably travel even further, maybe
over 120 feet, if the event was held outdoors in an "ambient" Mars
environment.

2. A harder question. Running speed is a complex combination of muscle power
and gravity and timing. Running in low gravity would take some training
(like the old Skylab astronauts had to train to jog in zero-g back in the
1970's), and over time people's muscles might get less powerful on Mars
because you don't need to be as strong to lift and move things (including
our bodies) in the lower gravity. With training, because of the lower
gravity someone might be able to beat the Earth 100 m record by making
longer, lower strides. But it would probably look nothing like a 100 m dash
event on Earth! Atmospheric drag is probably not a concern because the event
would have to occur inside a habitat of some kind with an Earth-like
atmosphere; I doubt a runner in a space suit could even come close because
of all the cumbersome breathing and heating hardware you have to wear.