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Why do the chains on a swing set snap when you get to high?

My friends and I are doing a physics project on air resistance on playground swing sets. We have to have different types of research and we want to know why the chains on a swing will snap once you get to high and you come straight down. Why don’t you comeback full circle?

This entry was posted by admin on May 28, 2010 at 6:22 pm, and is filed under Yard and Garden. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0.You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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#1 written by NeRdYkId1101 1 year ago

You have to think about the forces acting on the swing. You always have gravity pulling down and the chains of the swing pulling back towards the bar that the swing is hung from. This is a set up for a fine pendulum, but have you ever swung a pendulum with just enough force to push it past horizontal before it comes back down? The same thing happens. The problem is that when you go past the point where the chains are parallel to the ground, you end up with the chains pulling you back towards the bar (which has a downward component and a horizontal component) and gravity continuing to pull you straight down. That means there is no force out away from the bar that would keep the chains taught (where normally gravity is pulling away from the bar because you are below the bar). Here’s a little diagram:

http://picasaweb.google.com/climbernerd1110/Answers#5347196529885694706

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#2 written by Daniel 1 year ago

The mythbusters do a cool piece on this: I assume you mean that the chains go slack and make a snapping sound and that they don’t “Snap” as in break.

The reason that the chains snap is because the torque that generates your rotational motion is no longer enough to generate tension in the chain.

If you think about it as vertical and horizontal components. When you are lower on the swing your horizontal component of your motion is much higher. As you near the top of your arc the only real force acting on you at that moment is gravity which pulls STRAIGHT down.

This is a deviation from your rotational motion which causes the slack in the chain.

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#3 written by D g 1 year ago

If you go in a circle YOU SEE the middle of the circle is the widest.

When you are on a swing if you stay below the top of the swing the chains are tight when you change direction.

At the time you change direction gravity pulls you down and the chain pulls you in.

Gravity wants to pull you STRAIGHT DOWN.
but the chain because it is only so long will pull you in a bit when the swing is going down.

When you go tooo high
over the top of the swing where the chains connect. when you stop and change direction.
gravity pulls YOU STRAIGHT DOWN.

when YOU get to the bottom part of the circle where the chain is tight then you get jerked.

………..w…. if you get to here
……..w..|
……w….v you fall straight down
……..w
………..w… until you get to here
……………www……. then the chain jerks on you

gravity tries to pull you down but the chain pulls you in
……..w…..if you stay below the top of the swing
………|..w
………V…..w
………………..www

VERY GOOD QUESTION.

I hope that answers your question.

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#4 written by eyeonthescreen 1 year ago

As you near the top of your swing arc, the tangential velocity diminishes from its maximum value, which occurs at the bottom of the swing arc. With the slowing tangential velocity, the centrifugal force pulling outward along the chain also diminishes.

Thus the tension on the chain slackens and the weight of the chain itself, now pointing downward across the length of the chain, draws the chain inward. That is, the chain bows a bit under its own weight, which is no longer offset by centrifugal force. And that’s why the chain sort of buckles when you are at the top of a swing.

And as the swing drops from its maximum height, the tangential velocity increases bringing on more centrifugal force. That increase in centrifugal force tugs at the chain, causing it to taunten suddenly. And that’s where the “snap” sound comes from. It’s like the snapping of a whip.

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