Bigfoot snapped a 24" diameter Oak Trunk

Cotter said:
However, one portion of this 700 lb force breaking a tree discussion that hasn't been mentioned is apparently the tree was swinging back and forth. How would a pendulous tree swing with an intermittent, but timed 700 lb force at say 5, 10, 15, or 20 mph affect the force?
Click to expand...
Is this where the long prehensile tail comes into play keeping the Bigfoot in the swinging tree?
 
Cotter said:
At 45 feet from a cantilevered point?

I'd like to see this as I don't think it is correct.

Can you show the work or provide the link?
Click to expand...

It's pretty simple.

We have a fixed barrier.

We have a 700 pound object hitting it at 20mph.

~318Kg at ~9m/s = ~13K joules = ~9,500 foot pounds.

The questions are, would that break a 24" thick oak trunk near the base, and could a bigfoot sustain the impact without serious injury?

http://www.csgnetwork.com/kineticenergycalc.html
 
If a Bigfoot wants humans or other Bigfoots to know that it knocked down a big tree it shouldn't run away like the wind. It should stand next to the fallen tree like Vanna at the letter board.
 
William Parcher said:
Resume pasted the incident thing and there is no mention of any visual.
Click to expand...

And this too in response to a question about seeing footie riding down trees.
bipto said:
I saw the tree come down, I saw something large fall separately through the foliage and land heavily on the ground, I saw something grayish move rapidly away all from a distance of about 50 yards up a slope.

I should also say, before I saw all that, I saw the top of the tree swaying back and forth vigorously.
Click to expand...

I can't read any more of this crap.
 
If they put out some trail cameras will the tree felling stop?

If the researchers carry video cameras will everything stop? It would be cool to get a video of Bigfoot bringing down a huge tree and then running away.
 
LTC8K6 said:
It's pretty simple.

We have a fixed barrier.

We have a 700 pound object hitting it at 20mph.

~318Kg at ~9m/s = ~13K joules = ~9,500 foot pounds.

The questions are, would that break a 24" thick oak trunk near the base, and could a bigfoot sustain the impact without serious injury?

http://www.csgnetwork.com/kineticenergycalc.html
Click to expand...

Does this assume the force is applied at the base? Like hitting a brick wall?
 
LTC8K6 said:
It's pretty simple.

We have a fixed barrier.

We have a 700 pound object hitting it at 20mph.

~318Kg at ~9m/s = ~13K joules = ~9,500 foot pounds.

The questions are, would that break a 24" thick oak trunk near the base, and could a bigfoot sustain the impact without serious injury?

http://www.csgnetwork.com/kineticenergycalc.html
Click to expand...

When a 2000 kg vehicle hits an 8" diameter tree at 40mph, the amount of Kinetic Energy is approximately 316,840 Joules or 233689 foot-pounds.

The 8" tree almost always wins.
 
^Yes, at the base I would agree wholeheartedly. That same impact higher up is what is interesting.

Kind of like a cheater bar on a wrench. Folks will 'bounce' on the cheater bar to get the nut to break free. The same 'bounce' closer to the nut itself will not create the same amount of torque.
 
Cotter said:
Does this assume the force is applied at the base? Like hitting a brick wall?
Click to expand...

No, it assumes that that is the amount of Foot pounds at impact with the tree at 45'.

The Kinetic Energy is going to be shed through the elasticity of the tree at that point, the amount of kinetic energy needed to flex the tree as we go down through progressively thicker and thicker diameters of cross-section, until it no longer flexes. You are applying constant forces to a problem involving instantaneous impact. Once that tree absorbs the energy, it will be redirected back into throwing the beast backward, or crumpling his mug.
 
Hi Mike! Been a while, I hope this response finds you in good health and spirits.
Click to expand...
Greetings! And yes, all's well here, thanks.

Cotter said:
.........Also, taking into the 'swing' of the tree, would you agree or disagree that the most torque experienced during the swing would be at the base of the tree, where it is fixed to the ground and doesn't allow for bending?.......
Click to expand...

Which is why more trees get uprooted than broken off during gales.

If a heavy weight accelerates along a branch, crashing into the vertical trunk, the forces are contained within the triangle formed by the trunk, the branch, and the object which forms the hypotenuse between the two. One of those three things will break, within that triangle, or the points of contact between them will break (ie the hypotenuse will slip backward at the lower end, or slide up the trunk at its upper end as the lower end continues forward..........or the branch will break off from the trunk, or the trunk snap at the junction with the branch).
 
@Drew - Yep, I see where impact vs constant is where a mistake was made.

That's why I asked Ben (he seems to have a handle on the physics side of things better than anyone) about the increase in force/torque once the tree starts swinging like a pendulum.
 
Last edited:
@Mike -

OK, getting a bit off from my initial goal (just dealing with a force, not a BF), but I see what you are saying I think.

However, let's say that 3 points of contact were not made at the time of impact, but only 1? (OK, here goes the crazy!) Like if the force were to have not been in contact with the branch at all at the time of impact?

And one thing to consider that I've mentioned a couple times is that if the force were applied in a rhythm with the tree swaying - how would that affect things? A timed 700 lb force at a velocity to increase the pendulum.

You'd have to start considering the force created by the inertia of the tree.
 
MikeG said:
Greetings! And yes, all's well here, thanks.



Which is why more trees get uprooted than broken off during gales.

If a heavy weight accelerates along a branch, crashing into the vertical trunk, the forces are contained within the triangle formed by the trunk, the branch, and the object which forms the hypotenuse between the two. One of those three things will break, within that triangle, or the points of contact between them will break (ie the hypotenuse will slip backward at the lower end, or slide up the trunk at its upper end as the lower end continues forward..........or the branch will break off from the trunk, or the trunk snap at the junction with the branch).
Click to expand...

Not enough energy, imo.

The branch alone is already successfully holding up a standing, then running 700 pound biped.

It must be a relatively thin branch to be high up in the tree.
 
Cotter said:
OK, getting a bit off from my initial goal (just dealing with a force, not a BF), but I see what you are saying I think.
Click to expand...
But you can't deal with it as just a force and not a living agent or else it's not a real world evaluation. The ape has to use forces and actions to keep itself from falling out of the pendulum tree before the trunk snaps.

None of your calculations matter if Bigfoot falls before the tree breaks.
 
Cotter said:
.......However, let's say that 3 points of contact were not made at the time of impact, but only 1? (OK, here goes the crazy!) Like if the force were to have not been in contact with the branch at all at the time of impact?........
Click to expand...

In which case, something weighing 700 pounds leapt off the branch towards the trunk, giving the branch (and thus the trunk) an equal and opposite reaction (ie accelerating the trunk closer to the leaping object). In other words, the object making contact with the trunk does so at an instant when the trunk is accelerating towards it.

Let me explain this with an analogy. A yacht, sitting still on a lake, with a mast sticking up and a smooth deck. A big heavy thing runs along the deck and crashes into or leaps at the mast. What happens?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom