CLIMBING SCIENCE: A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
Climbing Science
CONTENTS
- Introduction
- Purpose
- Apparatus
- Methods
- Observations
- Analysis
- Applications
- Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
Introduction
Welcome to the wonderful world of climbing! If you really think about it, climbing has been around for ages. Even since the beginning of mankind.
Climbing can take many different forms; whether it be mountain, wall, ramp, or stair climbing. Climbing is a necessity of life and without it mankind would no longer exist. Early humans mountain climbed in order to find food and shelter. They used climbing as a means for survival. When flooding occurred they climbed to higher grounds.
Today we have people climbing immense structures like Mt. Everest and the Empire State Building. We also have people climbing things on a much smaller scale such as staircases and ramps.
Staircases and ramps are ancient. Originally stairs were designed to enable people to reach places higher up. Stairs were not made for people’s needs. Just as long as it was possible for a person to climb up them, the stairs were considered to be efficient. Nowadays this does not seem to be good enough, and it is not.
Ramps on the other hand date back to the age of the Egyptians or before. They may have even been used to aid in the construction of the pyramids. Basically they were designed for dragging heavy objects to a height that would otherwise be unreachable. Today, the majority of ramps are used for the handicapped and elderly.
If technology has advanced so much over the past few decades, why then hasn’t the art and technique of climbing? Now all engineers think about is changing the things that people climb on to make climbing easier. This is all well
and good, but why not change the actual body position of the climber to reduce the force of gravity put on it. By conducting a series of experiments, I was able to find out how much gravity was diluted for several different body positions, and from this information suggest a better way of climbing.
To determine the highest dilution of gravity while walking and climbing in order to design more ergonomic stairs and ramps, as well as making walking easier for the elderly and handicapped.
Wall Climb Experiment Stair Climb Experiment Ramp Walk Experiment Wall Climb Data
Table 1. Wall Climb Data
Purpose
t (seconds)
t average
d (meters)
height (meters)
d/h (m)
a (m/s2)
dilution of g (m/s2)
g average (m/s2)
6.7
3.6
0.76 (straight)
1.99
0.38
0.017
0.0065
0.0262
3
3.6
0.85
1.99
0.43
0.094
0.0406
0.0262
3.2
3.6
0.9
1.99
0.4
0.088
0.0352
0.0262
4.5
3.6
0.95
1.99
0.48
0.047
0.0226
0.0262
Stair Climb Data
Table 2. Stair Climb Data
| t (seconds) | t average | d (meters) | height (meters) | d/h (m) | a (m/s2) | dilution of g (m/s2) | g average (m/s2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
1 | 0.31 (straight) | 0.23 | 1.35 | 0.31 | 0.4185 | 0.2812 |
| 1 | 1 | 0.31 | 0.27 | 1.15 | 0.31 | 0.3565 | 0.2812 |
| 1 |
1 | 0.31 | 0.32 | 0.97 | 0.31 | 0.3007 | 0.2812 |
| 1 | 1 | 0.31 | 0.37 | 0.84 | 0.31 | 0.2604 | 0.2812 |
| 1 | 1 | 0.31 | 0.41 | 0.76 | 0.31 | 0.2356 | 0.2812 |
| 1 |
1 | 0.31 | 0.46 | 0.67 | 0.31 | 0.2077 | 0.2812 |
| 1 | 1 | 0.31 | 0.51 | 0.61 | 0.31 | 0.1891 | 0.2812 |
Ramp Walk Data
Table 3. Ramp Walk Data
| t (seconds) | t average | d (meters) | height (meters) | d/h (m) | a (m/s2) | dilution of g (m/s2) | g average (m/s2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 |
8.83 | 9.46 | 1.81 (straight) | 5.23 | 0.12 | 0.6276 | 0.759 |
| 8.5 | 8.83 | 9.46 | 1.5 | 6.31 | 0.13 | 0.8203 | 0.759 |
| 9 |
8.83 | 9.46 | 1.37 | 6.91 | 0.12 | 0.8292 | 0.759 |
| 8 | 8.18 | 9.46 | 1.69 (straight) | 5.6 | 0.15 | 0.84 | 0.9373 |
| 8.5 | 8.18 | 9.46 | 1.5 | 6.31 | 0.13 | 0.0.8203 | 0.9373 |
| 8 |
8.18 | 9.46 | 1.38 | 6.86 | 0.15 | 1.029 | 0.9373 |
| 8.2 | 8.18 | 9.46 | 1.25 | 7.57 | 0.14 | 1.0598 | 0.9373 |
Slope:
m=rise/run
m=0.74m/9.46m
m=0.08m/m
Angle of rise:
tan<x=0.74/9.46
tan<x=0.0782
<x=4°
Analysis
Everything in the universe experiences gravity. From the biotic to the abiotic part of our environment. Even plants and moons experience gravity. Humans are constantly using different means to dilute the downward force of gravity on Earth. The major means by which we dilute gravity are by ramps and stairs.
Ramps are probably the most popular means for diluting gravity. Ramps do not just include wheelchair ramps, but also things like screws and funnels. Screws are just nails with a spiral ramp around them. This ramp-like object requires less force to put it in a wall than it takes to put a nail in the same wall. Funnels are curved downward sloping ramps used to slow the speed of liquids so they do not splash. The theory of ramps used for diluting gravity can be seen in rock climbing as well. The leg of the climber itself creates a ramp. The more the leg is bent, the more gravity is diluted, and the easier it is to climb.
This same theory has recently been noticed on the universal scale. It has been recorded that the universe is expanding at an increasing speed. Scientists have acknowledged the possible existence of a force opposite to gravity called anti-gravity. It may be possible that the universe is expanding in a downward sloping ramp fashion. This would explain why they are gaining speed.
During this experiment two people walked up a ramp several times and increased the bend in their backs each time. By calculating the dilution of gravity for each different height I was able to find out which position the persons back should be in to make it easiest to walk up. The more your back is bent, the more gravity is diluted. This is because you are lowering your centre of gravity and the lower the centre of gravity you have, the more balance you will have. If a person were to stand on one foot and close their eyes they would begin to lose their balance. Subconsciously they would lean forwards in an attempt to regain their balance.
Certain species of animals born with poor sight have a tendency to lean quite far forwards. This may be linked to evolutionary tendencies as well. Early humans that lived in forest areas had no need to see far distances but did need good balance. This may be one of the reasons why they leaned forward.
The data obtained from this experiment can also be applied in the design of wheelchairs. Because all wheelchair ramps are not set at an ideal angle of rise, the wheelchair itself should be able to change the angle that the seat is in, in order to compensate. This would have the effect of allowing the person in the wheelchair to lean forwards and still have the back support they need. If the ramp that a person in a wheelchair has to go up is fairly steep, then they can push a button that makes the wheelchair lean forwards. This would allow the person to get more power in their pushes and thus make it easier to get up the ramp. This type of wheelchair could also be beneficial to wheelchair basketball players who need to lean forwards in order to get a good shot at the basket. One company has designed a wheelchair similar to this but not the same. It is called the PTS (Power Tilt System). The user can change the angle of the chair but only in a reclining fashion. It has not been designed to be able to lean forwards. The PTS is designed more for comfort then for scientific reasons.
Wall climb experiment: The "Chimney Climb". Stair climb experiment.
Ramp Walk.
Applications
The data obtained from the wall climb experiment can be applied to professional and/or recreational rock climbers to help make their climb as easy as possible. When in the position of what is called a “chimney climb” (when you are sandwiched between two walls. Your back is against one and your feet are against another), the positioning of your feet is the key to your success. During this experiment the chimney climb was performed with the subjects feet in different positions. By finding the dilution of gravity for each different position, I was able to find out which position would make it easiest to climb.
The data obtained from the stair climb experiment can be applied to the design of more ergonomic stairs. Stairs that are best suited for the average person and make climbing them easy as well as less time consuming. This will reduce the strain on a person’s joints and not tire them out. Some staircases are extremely steep, which makes them hard to climb and hard on a person’s joints, while some staircases are not steep enough and take a long time to climb. During this experiment I climbed up a set of stairs with my feet at different heights. By finding the dilution of gravity for each different height, I was able to find out what would be the best size for a staircase.
The data obtained from this experiment can also be applied to climbing any type of staircase whether it is very steep or not steep enough. By raising your feet to a certain height when climbing stairs you can make the climb as easy and comfortable as possible.
Conclusion
Conclusions and theories can be drawn from the results of experiments and their corresponding graphs.- The wall climb experiment resulted in a curved graph. This means that as the distance (that your leg makes) increases, the dilution of gravity increases then decreases. The dilution of gravity starts off increasing steadily and at a fairly constant rate, it then peaks at about a dilution of 0.041m/s2, and then the dilution of gravity begins to decreases. This means that the best angle for your legs to be positioned with the wall is approximately 63º.
- The stair climb experiment resulted in a slightly curved graph. The line has a negative slope. As the height increases, the dilution of gravity decreases. This means that the higher a person lifts their leg above the stairs, the lower the dilution of gravity will be. Consequently, the lower the persons leg is above the stairs, the higher the dilution of gravity will be. From these results it would be best for a person to lift their leg just above the height of the stair when climbing them.
- The ramp walk experiment resulted in scatter plot. The regression line indicated that the slope of the lines for both people is a negative one. As the height increases the dilution of gravity decreases. This means that the taller a person is the less diluted gravity will be on their body while walking up a sloped surface like a ramp. The dilution of gravity was initially greater for line 1(Amy) than for line 2(Guy) because Amy is shorter than Guy. The more a person bends their back the more gravity is diluted as well. This is because you are lowering your center of gravity and making yourself shorter. Uses for this and the other experiments can be found in the Applications section.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks is extended to the following individuals for their contributions to this project: