Wednesday 3 September 2014

Lower Sixth Challenge Question #1


There is a chain walk along the bottom of the cliffs at Elie in Fife, near St Andrews. They have hung chains over cliffs so that you can hang off them to climb up and down. The safety information says that the bolts from which the chains hang are tested every year to loads of 5kN. Let's assume that the chains are made of stainless steel which has a density of around 8000kg for every cubic metre of volume. Look at the chain in the top picture. How close am I to the safety limit if I hang off the chain?