I don't think so.
The gravitational force pulling the hammer down would be weaker, thus the momentum of the hammer would be less on the moon than on earth. As a result, the wood would receive a lower lateral push. The gravity holding the base down would, correspondingly, be weaker, so the wood would move just as far as on earth. It would just take longer.
On jupiter, the gravitational force would be so large that I imagine the wood would split with the vicious thump from the hammer. If the wood was theoretically strong enough, it would move in the same way, only much much faster.
(, Fri 10 Oct 2008, 16:26, Share, Reply)
Yes.
I agree. The only force both trying to upset the equilibrium and keeping it in place is gravity. If perhaps it was a spring pulled back to hit it, then it would probably fall over on the moon.
(, Fri 10 Oct 2008, 22:03, Share, Reply)
But......
The wood has a large surface area, and therefore considerable drag through the air, which will limit the amount of forward movement when the hammer hits, the atmosphere is very much thinner on the moon, so the effect of the surface area on the wood will be very minimal, thus it may fall over.
(, Tue 14 Oct 2008, 0:35, Share, Reply)