Our nano jump to the moon was based on these calculations:
The Moon is about 250,000 miles away (A quarter of a million miles.) A mile has 5280 feet in it. A foot is made of twelve inches. At this point, if we multiply all these numbers together, we will discover that the distance to the moon is (approximately) 15,840,000,000 inches from Earth. One billionth of that would be 15.84 inches or about 15 13/16 inches on a yardstick.
To make this “high” jump, I used PVC pipe, probably 3/4” but it doesn’t really matter, I cut two lengths 15 3/4” long, my cross bar is a piece of 1/16” fiberglass rod about a foot long, and the bases are crossed pieces of 2 X 2 lumber a couple of inches long. I got the rod from McMaster-Carr, my very favorite materials catalog (Google it), but any similar material will work, I wanted to make sure that there was no possibility it would trip or catch a child, and that it wouldn’t break easily or hurt them if someone fell on it. (and I had some lying around.)
I am particularly proud of having thought of marking off 3/4” ticks across the bar, putting it in my drill on low speed, and using a red Sharpie to make the stripes!
I hope this helps you, it has been a popular part of our program.
