Collar Physics: An Excursion to a Rock Gym

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on developing challenging physics problems related to climbing and belaying for an AP Physics class excursion to a rock gym. Key topics include calculating the breaking strength of climbing ropes, applying Hooke's Law to determine the effective spring constant of a rope, and analyzing forces on anchors in a climbing scenario. Specific problems suggested include calculating the elongation of a rope during a fall and the dynamics of a biner impacting a belayer's shoe.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of Hooke's Law and spring constants
  • Knowledge of tension and breaking strength in climbing ropes
  • Familiarity with static equilibrium and force analysis
  • Basic principles of kinematics related to falling objects
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the breaking strength specifications of various climbing ropes
  • Learn how to apply Hooke's Law in practical scenarios
  • Study static equilibrium problems in climbing contexts
  • Explore kinematic equations to analyze falling objects in climbing
USEFUL FOR

High school physics students, educators planning practical physics applications, and climbing enthusiasts interested in the physics of climbing and belaying.

QuteBlue
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Me and a couple of my classmates are trying to convince our physics teacher to do an "excursion" to a local rock gym for a day. He said only if we could come up with a GOOD HARD problems based on the physics of the climbing and the belaying. Now, i have a basic understanding of physics and it being an AP PHYSICS Highschool Class, I'm probably not quite up to par with most everyone that's going to read this, but my main issue is I'm having trouble coming up with "GOOD HARD" problems. Does anyone have any suggestions at all?


Blue
 
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Think tension.

Climbing ropes have breking strengths, which is the tension at which they will snap. You could calculate what kind of screamer you would have to take before a rope would snap.

Consider the rope to act like a spring in that it will follow hook's Law. Figure out the effective spring constant for 25 meters of the rope. By how much will the rope lengthen for a fall? OR how much will it lengthen when a guy is lowered?

THink about anchors. If you placed two bolts 80 cm apart and connected them with a sling that was 140 cm long, (and the rope goes through a biner clipped to the sling so that the biner and two bolts form a triangle) what force would be on each bolt? (It's a statics problem.)

And more basic: how fast is that biner going when it hits the belayer's shoe?
 

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