Formula Needed for Role Playing Game

[Biscuit_Jones]

Hello, Great Minds and Fellow RPG Enthusiasts!


I play and moderate a role-playing game and am seeking your brilliance. Can anyone provide me with a formula to calculate how far a person can throw and object based on how much they can lift and how much the object weighs?

For example, if a person can lift 200 lbs., how far can they throw a 16 lb. shot put at a 45-degree angle under Earth's current gravity. I do not care about wind resistance at this point.


Thank you!

Charles

 

[Vanadium 50]

Probably not.

The same person throws a feather, a baseball, and a cannonball. Which one goes farthest? Which one weighs the least and the most?

 

[Biscuit_Jones]

Probably not.

The same person throws a feather, a baseball, and a cannonball. Which one goes farthest? Which one weighs the least and the most?

Interesting. Is it possible to calculate the throwing velocity? I have seen other formulas in which you can calculate the throwing distance based upon the throwing velocity. With regard to the strength of the person and the weight of the object, a person way that can lift 200 lbs. can throw a 20 lb. object further than a person who can only lift 100 lbs.. Of course, I am probably not thinking it through properly and am wrong.

Charles

 

[Klystron]

You can base your RPG on data from sports statistics. As the previous response suggests, choose the objects thrown by the players. Consider two classes: heavy objects and light objects.

Heavy objects include spherical shot, around two to ten kilograms, and 'hammer' about the same mass but with a chain and/or handle attached for added leverage. One throws or 'puts' shot by rotating the entire body inside a marked circle and heaving the shot at an angle to the vertical at the optimum release point using your dominant hand. Hammer throw very similar except the chain/handle permits using both hands and gaining additional angular momentum. Shotput and hammer throws within weight classes are judged on distance.

Light objects could include baseball (sphere) and football (oblate or section spheroid). Light sports objects are also thrown by moving the entire body but in line with the throwing path.

Some research of baseball players and football quarterbacks or soccer goalie throwing stats should give you comparisons of player height and weight with velocity and distance. Since baseball pitchers always throw the same distance and ball weight, velocity stats are a more useful measure. While distance is a factor throwing baseballs and footballs, accuracy is most important.

Track and field sport stats should provide a basis for comparing player height and weight with shotput distances. If player weightlifting stats are available, you can decide if they correlate with throwing distances. You need to decide on the type of game and what measures the best throw.

 

[Vanadium 50]

A second example - a person throws a sheet of paper, a sheet of paper crumpled into a ball, and a sheet of paper folder into a paper airplane. Which one goes the farthest?

Third example - a shot put weighs about as much as a hammer, but the hammer throw records are substantially longer than the shot put.

 

[Hornbein]

Hello, Great Minds and Fellow RPG Enthusiasts!


I play and moderate a role-playing game and am seeking your brilliance. Can anyone provide me with a formula to calculate how far a person can throw and object based on how much they can lift and how much the object weighs?

For example, if a person can lift 200 lbs., how far can they throw a 16 lb. shot put at a 45-degree angle under Earth's current gravity. I do not care about wind resistance at this point.


Thank you!

Charles

I'll assume that by throwing you mean putting the shot. The world's record at shot put (as you probably know) is 23 meters. The world record for the bench press is 1400 lbs.

So let's say your person can throw it 23m*200lbs/1400lbs = 2.3m. That seems a little low so I'd double it.

If we want more realism you could get a weight and actually try it.

 

[berkeman]

Third example - a shot put weighs about as much as a hammer, but the hammer throw records are substantially longer than the shot put.

Fixed that for you.

 

[berkeman]

I play and moderate a role-playing game and am seeking your brilliance. Can anyone provide me with a formula to calculate how far a person can throw and object based on how much they can lift and how much the object weighs?

For example, if a person can lift 200 lbs., how far can they throw a 16 lb. shot put at a 45-degree angle under Earth's current gravity. I do not care about wind resistance at this point.

Since this is just for gaming code (and not for an athletic performance evaluation code), you should be able to make some simplifications. Putting the shot depends on strength (mainly in bench/military press and squats), coordination, balance and speed. So you should have those inputs to your RPG for the player, and I would linearly base their best shot put distance ratioed to the current world record holder Ryan Crouser. Look at his typical weight workouts and come up with numbers for his coordination, balance and speed, and ratio your players' numbers versus those numbers. I'd just go with some simple linear relationship initially to see how the game works out with that model.

BTW, Ryan's record setting throws lately are making stadium designers and maintenance folks rethink how long their shot put pits need to be...

(notice how he just barely misses the wall at the end of the pit!)

 

[hutchphd]

Here is my attempt, put forward to elicit comment.
If a person can lift 200 lbs then assume she can supply that force to the 16lb shot. This will provide an acceleration during the put $$ 2a =g \frac { 200lb} {16lb} $$ where the two is because two arms for the lift. one for the put. If this acceleration is applied over arms length say l=3 ft then the shot wili obtain a speed of launch given by energy conservation. $$\frac {mv^2} 2=ma l$$ so $$ {v^2} =g l\frac { 200lb} {16lb}$$ giving range $$R=l\frac { 200lb} {16lb}$$ which is 40 ft Seems about right.

 

[berkeman]

Here is my attempt, put forward to elicit comment.
If a person can lift 200 lbs then assume she can supply that force to the 16lb shot.

Speaking as a former high school league shot put champ...

Putting the shot depends on strength (mainly in bench/military press and squats), coordination, balance and speed.