Does Tarzan's Vine Break During His Swing Across the River?

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Homework Help Overview

The problem involves Tarzan attempting to swing across a river using a vine, with specific parameters including his mass, the length of the vine, and his speed at the bottom of the swing. The discussion centers on whether the vine will break under the forces involved during the swing.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Conceptual clarification

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the forces acting on Tarzan, including centripetal force and gravitational force, and question the inclusion of weight in the calculations. There are references to similar problems that might provide insight.

Discussion Status

The discussion is ongoing, with participants offering guidance on considering additional forces and suggesting resources for similar problems. There is no explicit consensus on the approach to take, but there is a productive exploration of the problem's parameters.

Contextual Notes

Participants note that the problem may not be advanced physics, and there is a mention of the vine's breaking strength as a critical factor in the analysis.

Karex
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Tarzan (m=85kg) tries to cross a river by swiming from 10.0m long vine. His speed at the bottom of the swing, just as he clears the water, is 8.0m/s. Tarzan doesn't know that the vine has a breaking strength of 1.0*10^3 N. Does he make it safely across the river?

mass= 85kg
rope= 10m
velocity= 8.0m/s
Tension= 1.0*10^3N
and it has to do with this equation somehow

Fc(force that maintains circular motion)
mass (m)
Vt^2 (tangential speed)^2
r (distance to axis)
w (angular speed)

Fc=m*((Vt^2)/r) or Fc=m*r*(w)^2

I know the answer is no but i don't know how to get there
well thanks again
 
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While you have a centripetal force, I think you are missing the force from his weight.
 
Physics girl phd is right, you have to count the weight in, and, by the way, by typing 'Tarzan' into the search box, I'm sure you'll find at least two very similar (if not same) problems.
 
This isn't advanced physics.
 

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