Topic: Batman's rise from the pitt

Physics Concepts:

The Failed Climb Portion (dynamics & work)

Pulley Part
Work
Force Tension
Force Friction
Force Gravity
Force Applied
Climbing Part/Wall Breaking (dynamics & breaking
force)
Force Gravity
Force Normal
Work Energy Theorem
Falling Part (velocity, conservation of energy,
acceleration)
Potential Energy
Kinetic Energy
Velocity
The Successful Climb Portion
Force Gravity
Force Normal
Force Applied

Problem Statement:

The goal is to prove Batman's rise from prison is physically possible.

Background Information:

In the movie clip Bruce Wayne is seen climbing out of a pit once with the assistance of a rope which he
fails at, and then a second time without a rope in which he succeeded. I will be using dynamics principles
to prove if this scene is possible so some general information like mass and coefficient of friction will be
needed to be determined. Dynamics is all about forces like gravity, weight, applied forces, and frictional
forces. In this dynamics problem there are other physics principles present like momentum, which thus
involves acceleration and velocity.

Real World Numbers

Mass of Bruce Wayne - 82 kg

Coefficient of Friction between Rope and pole - 0.23

Gravity - 9.8m/s/s
The Solution Explained: Pulley Part

The first time Bruce attempts to rise from the pit he has a rope attached to him and he is hoisted up to the
first stepping/climbing stone. Although no height to which he was hoisted is given for the sake of this
analysis my personal guess is around 10 meters.

Bruce weighs 82 kg thus we can easily calculate the force gravity on his body by using newton's second
law.

Fg = ma

Fg = (82 kg)(9.81m/s/s)

Fg = 804N

The work that the secondary character has to do to lift Bruce is equivalent to the force of gravity times the
distance Bruce travels which in this scenario is 10 meters.

W lift = f * d

W lift = 804N * 10 m

W lift = 8040 Joules

This seems relatively simple, and it is, but we are forgetting to take into account a major factor and that is
the existence of friction. To find out the actual amount of work that is done to lift Bruce we have to add
the work done against friction to that of the work done to lift Bruce in general. We know that the
coefficient of friction between rope and pole is 0.23 but in the movie it is rope against rock; there is no
recorded value of coefficient of friction between rope and stone, so we will assume it is about .30 which
is greater than 0.23 to account for stone being rougher than stone.

W f = Ff * d

W f = Fg * coefficient friction * d

W f = 804N * 0.3 * 10m

W f = 2,412 Joules

We now add Work Lift to Work Friction to calculate the total amount of work needed to lift Bruce

Work Lift + Work Friction = Work Total

8040 Joules + 2412 Joules = 10,452 Joules

This means that the man exerts 10,452 Joules of energy to lift Bruce to the first stepping/climbing stone
and this is a very realistic number because we see in real life humans go to the gym and perform equal or
more work then this when lifting weights of 200+ pounds. In addition to that the man does not lift Bruce
in 1 second he does it over a period of time which makes it even more realistic. Thus I can say based on
the physics that the first part of Bruces escape is physically possible.

Another thing to notice is that the rope is undergoing tension in the process of lifting Bruce. The tension
on the left hand side of the pulley is equal to that of Bruces weight, so 804N the tension on the right hand
of the pulley though must be greater than 804N because if its was exactly 804 N bruce would be
suspended in mid air, if it was less than 804N he would fall; As for how much tension exists on the right
hand side one cant say for sure because each tug is going to be different.

(SHOW EXAMPLE TO CLASS WITH ROPE)

The Solution Explained: Climbing/Wall Breaking Part

The next part of Batman's escape that we will be analyzing is the one at which the climbing stone he
grabs breaks and he falls . This part is not that hard to analyze because we know that every stone he grabs
onto is going to apply a force equal to his weight onto the stone.

Fapp due to gravity = Fg

Fapp due to gravity = 82kg * 9.81m/s/s

Fapp due to gravity = 804 N

But one thing we have to account for is that he jumps and lands on the block that breaks so I have to
factor in the force due to potential energy he creates from that little leap of about 10 inches (.254 meters)

Potential energy = Fg * h

Potential energy = 804 N * .254 meters

Potential Energy = 204 Joules

We now can find out how much force this potential energy is equal to by using the work energy theorem
which states that change in energy is equal to force times distance; in moving this equation around we can
calculate how much additional force Bruce applies to the block.
 204 Joules = f * d

204 Joules = f * 0.254 meter

f = 204 joules/0.254 meters

f = 803 N

We can now add this to his force gravity to find the actual force Bruce applies to the stone causing it to
break

Fg + F due to potential energy = Fapp

804 N + 803 N = Fapp

Fapp = 1607 N

The stone he grabs onto has a surface area of roughly 16 square inches if we assume the stones
dimensions are 2 * 8. When we do the math to see how much force he applies per square inch it comes
out to be:

1607 N / 16 in2

100 N/ In2

The reason that the stone breaks and Bruce falls is that the stone seems to be about 4 thick and for a
person to apply 100 N/ In2 of force to a block that thin will for sure cause it to break because the stone is
not on a flat surface it is hanging halfway out making it very susceptible to breakage. The physics
continues to hold true up till this part so we are good.

(SHOW EXAMPLE OF DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COMPRESSION & TENSILE STRENGTH)

The Solution Explained: The Fall

Now I will analyze the scene in which Batman falls down the pit, at his current height he has a set amount
of potential energy. We know that he was hoisted about 10 meters up already and by the time he falls he
seems to have climbed another 15 meters. Thus we will assume that he is roughly 25 meters above the
reference point.

Potential energy = mgh

Potential energy = (82 kg)(9.81/m/s/s)(25m)

Potential Energy = 20,111 Joules

Using our potential energy we can now calculate the maximum velocity that he reaches at the bottom and
whether he could survive those speeds.

mgh = 1/2mv2
v =
 v =

V = 22m/s

This means that the peak speed that Bruce reaches during his fall is 22m/s and this is a very survivable
speed to be traveling at while tied to a string, though he will probably have some bruised ribs.

Another thing we can look at is the momentum of his fall and whether it breaks physics principles or not.
Momentum is simply velocity multiplied by mass.

PBruce = (82kg)(22m/s) = 1804 kgm/s

Based on physics we know that momentum must be conserved, and the movie makes it hard to give exact
numbers, but visually and using commonsense we can see that momentum is conserved in that the rope
holding him whiplashes upwards at a crazy fast speed and him hitting the wall transfers momentum to the
walls.

The Solution Explained: The Successful Climb

When Bruce tries to escape the second time around he opts to go without the rope and thus we get rid of
the whole pulley portion of the climb

The next thing we look at is why bruce was able to climb without breaking the blocks the second time
around. Although many may think they broke physics principles here in actuality they didn't it's just the
manner in which he climbed. This time around Bruce did not jump to grab blocks thus he only applied

Fapp = Fg

Fapp = (82 kg)(9.81m/s/s)

Fapp = 804 N

Using common mathematics it means that he only applied half the force per square inch on the climbing
stones this time around so

100 N/ In2 / 2

50 N/ In2

This is a much more reasonable force to apply to a 4 inch thick stone, and thus the stone did not break
when he used them to climb.

Finally there was the very last scene in which we see batman run and jump onto the stone ledge and pull
himself up. We can use basic dynamics and the work energy theorem to calculate how much force he
applies to the ledge and if it is physically possible for the ledge to support that force.

Fg = (82 kg)(9.81m/s/s)

Fg = 804 N
Now we will calculate the energy created due to his jump; based off of the scene he looks to jump about
3 feet (0.91m) off the ground.

Potential Energy = mgh

Potential Energy = (82 kg)(9.81m/s/s)(0.91m)

Potential Energy = 732 Joules

Next we will use the work energy theorem to find out how much force 732 joules would equate to over
the set distance.

Work = Change in energy

F * d = 732 joules

F * 0.91m = 732 Joules

F = 732 Joules/0.91m

F = 804 N

We then add the force due to the jump with that of the force due to gravity

Fg + F jump = Fapp

Fapp = 804N + 804N

Fapp = 1608N

You may be thinking how is this physically possible if he applied the same amount of force the first time
around and the block broke, but not this time. The key difference here is that the size of the block he is
jumping to is much larger this time around. This time the block he jumps to is almost twice as thick so
about 8 and he grabs on with two hands meaning he dissipates the force over a greater surface area. Thus
this part of his escape has been proven to abide by the physics principles of nature too.

Conclusion:

Based on the physics calculations done it seems that Batman's escape from the pit is indeed possible
because all the situations he is put in and forces he feels are not enough to kill him. In addition to that all
physics principles like conservation of energy, newton's laws, and gravity are obeyed.

Sources:

https://sciencedemonstrations.fas.harvard.edu/presentations/rope-friction-around-pole

- Coefficient of Friction between rope and pole

http://healthyceleb.com/christian-bale-height-weight-body-statistics/10787

- Details on Christian Bales height and mass

http://www.essential-humanities.net/art-supplementary/tension-compression/

- Compression Strength vs. Tensile Strength