Experiment reveals what would happen if every person on Earth jumped at once

“Five, four, three, two, one... jump!” As Greg Foot screamed this instruction on the mike, a crowd of 50,000 people present at a reading festival, leaped in the air for a few seconds, then landed back on the surface. Researchers sitting on their computers on the premises noted that the collective jump had triggered an earthquake that showed 0.6 magnitude on the Richter scale. “You successfully made an earthquake,” Greg exclaimed. Greg, a science journalist and presenter, was trying to evaluate the answer to an ancient question: What would happen if everyone on Earth jumped at the same time? And, he did find an answer, as reported by BBC.

Apparently, scientists believe that earthquakes that have high magnitudes can affect the spin and rotation of the Earth, and can even change the day’s length by microseconds. A recent example is Taylor Swift’s Seattle concert. According to Herald Sun, Swifties created enormous power during a song, that was equivalent to about 6,000 car batteries, and a 2.3 magnitude earthquake. Japan’s 2011 earthquake is another example. This earthquake of 8.9 magnitude shortened the length of the 24-hour day by 1.8 microseconds, as per NASA. Given these facts, Greg believed that this urban legend could hold a grain of truth.

So, he was curious to know what could happen if over eight billion people on the planet jumped in the air at the same time. Although everyone jumping at once is quite improbable, but still, if it would happen, how would it affect Earth? Would the planet move from its position? Would it change its speed and spin? To find an answer, he conducted an experiment on behalf of BBC’s Earth Lab by getting these 50,000 people to jump at once.

However, the resulting 0.6 magnitude earthquake didn't affect the planet in a much more noticeable way, as Greg explained in the video. "Earthquakes don't affect the planet's spin until they reach at least eight,” he explained, “and for this, you'd need seven million times more people than currently live on the planet." He concluded by saying "The urban legend is completely untrue. You cannot shift the planet if everyone jumps at the same time; you can't even change how fast it spins. There's no truth in it at all."

Prior to Greg, many scientists have attempted to answer this question. According to physicist Rhett Allain, if all people jumped at once, nothing much would happen, per Live Science. All the jumps and landings would cancel each other off, and the result would be a zero net force. However, Allain said that the collective jump would push the Earth slightly, and in one second, the Earth would move about a hundredth of the radius of a single hydrogen atom. "After all the people jump, they would 'fall' back down, move towards the Earth. During this time, the Earth would move back up. All would be as it once was," he shared.