GTJason
Helluva Engineer
- Messages
- 1,579
Some of the weight is absorbed by the tension in the rope including the split at the end of the cable and some of it is absorbed by the pulley system which is acting as a fulcrum in this case. In short the weight absorbed by all of those items is not nearly enough to account for the weight discrepancy. The biggest factor here is torque (moment) as his center of gravity (for simplicity at his hips) is away from the biological fulcrum (his elbows.) Also his center of gravity is farther away from that fulcrum than his hands which are handling the weight. So think of it as a lever, a smaller weight with a long lever arm can lift a large one with a short arm. Also you have to be an f'n monster to move that 390 lbs. I'd be willing to bet he could grab hold and hang on that rope, but put him a few inches away and his body weight is more than enough to anchor him.How do you push down 390 when you only weigh 2 something?
*Source: Me and 2 other engineers arguing for 30 minutes and drawing stuff on a whiteboard until we were satisfied