How far can Tarzan jump?

• Published in 2012
• Added on 2012-09-02

The tree-based rope swing is a popular recreation facility, often installed in outdoor areas, giving pleasure to thrill-seekers. In the setting, one drops down from a high platform, hanging from a rope, then swings at a great speed like "Tarzan", and finally jumps ahead to land on the ground. The question now arises: How far can Tarzan jump by the swing? In this article, I present an introductory analysis of the Tarzan swing mechanics, a big pendulum-like swing with Tarzan himself attached as weight. The analysis enables determination of how farther forward Tarzan can jump using a given swing apparatus. The discussion is based on elementary mechanics and, therefore, expected to provide rich opportunities for investigations using analytic and numerical methods.

Links

• http://arxiv.org/abs/1208.4355
• http://arxiv.org/pdf/1208.4355v1

Other information

BibTeX entry

@article{Shima2012,
	key = {Shima2012},
	type = {article},
	title = {How far can Tarzan jump?},
	author = {Shima, Hiroyuki},
	abstract = {The tree-based rope swing is a popular recreation facility, often installed in outdoor areas, giving pleasure to thrill-seekers. In the setting, one drops down from a high platform, hanging from a rope, then swings at a great speed like "Tarzan", and finally jumps ahead to land on the ground. The question now arises: How far can Tarzan jump by the swing? In this article, I present an introductory analysis of the Tarzan swing mechanics, a big pendulum-like swing with Tarzan himself attached as weight. The analysis enables determination of how farther forward Tarzan can jump using a given swing apparatus. The discussion is based on elementary mechanics and, therefore, expected to provide rich opportunities for investigations using analytic and numerical methods.},
	comment = {},
	date_added = {2012-09-02},
	date_published = {2012-08-01},
	urls = {http://arxiv.org/abs/1208.4355,http://arxiv.org/pdf/1208.4355v1},
	collections = {Basically physics,Easily explained},
	url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/1208.4355 http://arxiv.org/pdf/1208.4355v1},
	urldate = {2012-09-02},
	year = 2012,
	archivePrefix = {arXiv},
	arxivId = {1208.4355},
	eprint = {1208.4355},
	month = {aug},
	pages = 8,
	primaryClass = {physics.pop-ph}
}