## Wall Climbing Force Problem

In Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, the main character Jean Valjean, an escaped prisoner, was noted for his ability to climb up the corner formed by the intersection of two vertical perpendicular walls. Find the minimum force with which he had to push the walls (assume both hands are to exert the same force) whilst climbing. Assume that the coefficient of static friction is Uo.

I can't seem to solve this problem correctly. The hard part is determining the angle at which Jean is exerting the force to the walls. I thought it would be 90 degrees but he would be pushing downwards in order for it to be less difficult.
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 Mentor Blog Entries: 1 Here are a few hints. What vertical force must the walls exert on Jean? And what's the minimum normal force that must be exerted to create that much friction? (Don't forget Newton's 3rd law.)
 so the force would be F=mg/Uo?

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