FYKOS Year 31 Series 5 Problem 1 — staircase on the Moon · FYKOS 31 #31.5.1

Physics · mechanics

Problem

If we once colonized the Moon, would it be appropriate to use stairs on it? Imagine the descending staircase on the Moon. The height of one stair is

h=15 \mathrm{cm}

and it's length is

d=25 \mathrm{cm}

. Estimate the number

N

of stairs that a person would fly over if he walked into the staircase with a velocity

v=5{,}4 \mathrm{km\cdot h^{-1}}=1{,}5 \mathrm{m\cdot s^{-1}}

. The gravitational acceleration on the Moon's surface is six times weaker than on Earth's surface.