The Big Bang Theory of the Inclined Plane
In Season 1 Episode 2 of The Big Bang Theory, “The Big Bran Hypothesis”, Penny (Kaley Cuoco) asks Leonard (Johnny Galecki) to sign for a furniture delivery if she isn’t home. Unfortunately for Leonard and Sheldon, they are left with the task of getting a huge (and heavy) box up to Penny’s apartment.
To solve this problem, Leonard suggest using the stairs as an inclined plane, one of the six classical simple machines defined by Renaissance scientists. Both Leonard and Sheldon have the right idea here. Not only are inclined planes used to raise heavy loads but they require less effort to do so. Though this may make moving a heavy load easier the tradeoff is that the load must now be moved over a greater distance. So while, as Leonard correctly calculates, the effort required to move Penny’s furniture is reduced by half, the distance he and Sheldon must move Penny’s furniture twice the distance to raise it directly.
Mathematics of the Inclined Plane
Effort to lift block on Inclined Plane
Now we got an inclined plane. Force required to lift is reduced by the sine of the angle of the stairs… call it 30 degrees, so about half.
To analyze the forces acting on a body, physicists and engineers use rough sketches or free body diagrams. This diagram can help physicists model a problem on paper and to determine how forces act on an object. We can resolve the forces to see the effort needed to move the block up the stairs.
If the weight of Penny’s furniture is \(W\) and the angle of the stairs is \(\theta\) then
\[\angle_{\mathrm{stairs}}\equiv\theta \approx 30^\circ\]
and
\[\Rightarrow\sin 30^\circ = \frac{1}{2}\]
So the effort needed to keep the box in place is about half the weight of the furniture box or \(\frac{1}{2}W\), just as Leonard says.
Distance moved along Inclined Plane
While the inclined plane allows Leonard and Sheldon to push the box with less effort, the tradeoff is that the distance they move along the incline is twice the height to raise the box vertically. Geometry shows us that
\[\sin \theta = \frac{h}{d}\]
We again assume that the angle of the stairs is approximately \(30^\circ\) and \(\sin 30^{\circ} = 1/2\) then we have \(d=2h\).
Uses of the Inclined Plane
We see inclined planes daily without realizing it. They are used as loading ramps to load and unload goods. Wheelchair ramps also allow wheelchair users, as well as users of strollers and carts, to access buildings easily. Roads sometimes have inclined planes to form a gradual slope to allow vehicles to move over hills without losing traction. Inclined planes have also played an important part in history and were used to build the Egyptian pyramids and possibly used to move the heavy stones to build Stonehenge.
Lombard Street (San Francisco)
Lombard Street in San Francisco is famous for its eight tight hairpin turns (or switchbacks) that have earned it the distinction of being the crookedest street in the world (though this title is contested). These eight switchbacks are crucial to the street’s design as the reduce the hills natural 27° grade which is too steep for most vehicles. It is also a hazard to pedestrians, who are more accustomed to a more reasonable 4.86° incline due to wheel chair navigability concerns.
Technically speaking, the “zigzag” path doesn’t make climbing or coming down the hill any easier. As we have seen, all it does is change how various forces are applied. It just requires less effort to move up or down but the tradeoff is that you travel a longer distance. This has several advantages. Car engines have to be less powerful to climb the hill and in the case of descent, less force needs to be applied on the brakes. There are also safety considerations. A car will not accelerate down the switch back path as fast than if it was driven straight down, making speeds safer and more manageable for motorists.
This idea of using zigzagging paths to climb steep hills and mountains is also used by hikers and rock climbers for very much the same reason Lombard Street zigszags. The tradeoff is that the distance traveled along the path is greater than if a climber goes straight up.
The Descendants of Archimedes
We don’t need strength, we’re physicists. We are the intellectual descendants of Archimedes. Give me a fulcrum and a lever and I can move the Earth. It’s just a matter of… I don’t have this, I don’t have this!
We see that Leonard had the right idea. If we were to assume are to assume — based on the size of the box — that the furniture is approximately 150 lbs (65kg) and the effort is reduced by half, then they need to push with at least 75 lbs of force. This is equivalent to moving a 34kg mass. If they both push equally, they are each left pushing a very manageable 37.5 lbs, the equivalent of pushing a 17kg mass.
Penny’s apartment is on the fourth floor and we if we assume a standard US building design of ten feet per floor, this means a 30 foot vertical rise. The boys are left with the choice of lifting 150 lbs vertically 30 feet or moving 75lbs a distance of 60 feet. The latter is more manageable but then again, neither of our heroes have any upper body strength.
