This is a fantastic video and is super helpful! Question for you - how would the equations change if the variable wasn't the location of the man on the beam, but the location of the X1 post? I'm trying to figure out an equation where the man is constant and always on the very end of the beam but the location of the X1 post is the unknown. So at what location of the X1 post will the beam start to tip?
Question: What is the torque on a telephone pole about the ground that is being blown by strong wind? Would it be the total force felt by the wind times the pole length? Intuition tells me that you should do an integration of force over the length of the pole, but unsure how to work that out.
Great question. Your intuition is right, you will likely need to do an integration IF the force of the wind varies with altitude. However, if you assume the force on the pole is uniform, namely it's the same up the height of the pole, then it becomes much simpler. Think of it this way: if you stuck the pole horizontally on the side of a building, could you calculate the torque? Gravity would act on each part of the pole equally so the net torque would simplify to the total force mg acting at the center of mass. Cheers, Dr. A
This is a fantastic video and is super helpful! Question for you - how would the equations change if the variable wasn't the location of the man on the beam, but the location of the X1 post? I'm trying to figure out an equation where the man is constant and always on the very end of the beam but the location of the X1 post is the unknown. So at what location of the X1 post will the beam start to tip?
Question: What is the torque on a telephone pole about the ground that is being blown by strong wind?
Would it be the total force felt by the wind times the pole length? Intuition tells me that you should do an integration of force over the length of the pole, but unsure how to work that out.
Great question. Your intuition is right, you will likely need to do an integration IF the force of the wind varies with altitude. However, if you assume the force on the pole is uniform, namely it's the same up the height of the pole, then it becomes much simpler. Think of it this way: if you stuck the pole horizontally on the side of a building, could you calculate the torque? Gravity would act on each part of the pole equally so the net torque would simplify to the total force mg acting at the center of mass.
Cheers,
Dr. A