ES.255 | Spring 2006 | Undergraduate

Physics of Rock Climbing

Lecture Notes

This table includes discussion summaries and lecture notes for the first 6 sessions. From session #7 on, class discussion focused on individual student projects.

SES # SUMMARY NOTES
1

Introduction

Discussion: Might the natural frequencies of karabiner gates and ropes match under certain circumstances that would cause the karabiner gate to be open during fall arrest?

Summary of In-class Derivation (PDF)
2 Open Questions in Rock Climbing Presentation (PDF)
3 Discussion of karabiner-rope Coupling Summary of Discussion (PDF)
4 Rope Behavior Presentation (PDF)
5

Three student projects defined:

- Measurement of karabiner gate opening due to oscillation, both in-vitro (say glued to a speaker cone) and in-vivo (in a drop test). 
- Modeling of the frequency matching between rope and karabiner gate oscillation. 
- Rope middle marking.

 
6

Measured the frequency of rope oscillation.

Measured the spring constant of a karabiner and came up with an estimate for the oscillation frequency of the gate (~25 Hz).

Marked nylon and tried to see if any changes were observable under a light microscope ~100x magnification. No changes were readily apparent.

Rope Oscillation Experiment (PDF)

Course Info

Instructor
As Taught In
Spring 2006
Learning Resource Types
Lecture Notes
Projects with Examples