Recent content by kgehrels

Agreed. This is much more clear in a vertical drop done below the pivot point. However, the deceleration does not go to 0 if the drop is done to the side of the pivot point as some of the force is changed into sideways acceleration. How much of the downwards acceleration due to gravity becomes...

Wish I'd thought of that. It's such a simple experiment and so easy to execute and replicate. Here's what I noticed: A slack rope cause a slight increase in force over a tight rope. However, it was nowhere near as much force as dropping the mass directly beneath the pivot point. What is going...

Pretty much what the title says. Everything that I can find online addresses the pendulum problem with the assumption that the rope is under tension to start. What if the rope is slack to start? Will there be an increase in force applied to the pivot point, say if a mass is dropped off a...

I agree that there is no good reason to start a swing with a jump. I also think that human nature would be to pull the rope tight before swinging. However, those arguments hold no weight with this person because there is a small chance that someone can do something unexpected. Our stage hands...

I'm the technical director for a theatre group and am looking at the best way to get an actor to use a rope to swing on stage. As we rent the theatre we use I need to run everything by their staff, who doesn't have a solid grasp of mechanics and physics. I proposed that we lower a pipe from...