How Does a Tug-of-War Accident Sever Somebody’s Arms?
I recently learned that the game of tug-of-war can sever arms when the rope snaps. How is this possible? What does that look like? What physical mechanism makes this possible? Wouldn’t everybody just fall backwards?
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Right before the rope snaps, there’s a ton of tension that is built up from both teams pulling on it; the rope is only stationary because it’s being pulled equally in both directions.
When it snaps, all that tension is instantly released; the other side of the rope is no longer holding this side of the rope in place (and vice versa; this side isn’t holding that side in place), so the rope will whip backwards at a tremendous speed, cutting through basically anything in its way. A heavy duty tow cable snapping can cut a person in half if they happen to be in the way.
Can you actually build up this much force in a regular game of tug of war? Probably not, because that would require both teams to be perfectly evenly matched (otherwise one side would just pull the other down and win) and extremely strong (or you won’t get the tension built up enough to snap the rope).
When you have a lot of people pulling on a rope there is a lot of energy stored in there.
Several fatal tug of war accidents are on record, with most being the result of using the wrong type of rope (nylon) ~~instead of a rope that has a degree of elasticity and involving large teams of pullers.~~
*EDIT: Nylon ropes are bad for for Tug-of-War both due to* **too much** *elasticity meaning that it can store far more energy than a fiber or cotton rope, and because it is far more likely to burn skin due to sliding and pulling. Twisted Cotton ropes are recommended for the sport because they are less likely to cause injury to the hands. If you haven’t figured out yet based on this post you should also avoid doing tug of war with more than a dozen or so people.*
If the rope snaps while it’s under tension it has enough energy to snap back and seriously hurt someone. The resulting impact can sever fingers, or depending on where it hits can potentially be fatal.
From an article:
“On June 13, 1978 in a Pennsylvania suburb, the entirety of Harrisburg middle school — some 2,300 students — lined up in a schoolyard and attempted to set a Guinness World Record for the largest tug of war game ever played. Instead, disaster ensued.
Twelve minutes into the match, the 2,000-foot-long braided nylon rope snapped, recoiling several thousand pounds of stored energy. “It sounded like someone pulled the string on a party cracker,” recalled 14-year-old participant Shannon Meloy. “I smelled something burning and I thought it was the rope…but it was hands. I looked down and saw…blood.” In the ensuing chaos, nearly 200 students lay wounded — five with severed fingertips, and one missing a thumb. Hundreds more faced second-degree burns. “It was just a game,” another student told the Gadsden Times a day later. “We just wanted to see how many could do it.”
The rope, provided by Pennsylvania Power and Light Co., had been intended for use in heavy construction, and was rated to withstand 13,000 pounds of stress.”
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Got a problem with the statement of the problem. Having worked with ropes a lot in my younger days…I think DarkAlman meant to state that they should have been using a higher rated rope without elasticity. The elasticity provides the energy for damage.
Along with what others have mentioned, unless you directly instruct people not to, most will wrap a coil of rope around their forearm to get a better purchase on it. Under those circumstances, even if the rope doesn’t snap, but there’s a sudden shift in the line, that’s when you can lose a hand or an arm.
If it is a tug of war with one person on each side, the rope is only having to deal with the stress of the weight of two people pulling on it. One in either direction. Lets say each person is pulling with 50 lbs of force. The rope has 100lbs of force stored in it. If it breaks, the middle of the rope comes flying back at the participants with their 50lbs of force, a manageable amount.
But in a large game of tug of war, say one hundred people on each side, the rope is dealing with the force of two hundred people. One hundred on each side. Each person still pulls the same, lets say 50lbs per person. The Rope has a collective 10,000lbs of force stored in it. And if it snaps, now each side has its 5000lbs of force that is flying back at them. That is like getting hit by a car.
Don’t forget that in a tug of war, many people wrap a wrote around their arm to gain a better grip. If that line were to snap, it definitely could cause serious injury.
It’s also why you stay clear of lines being used to fell trees or tow cars. Lots of potential energy
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I’ve personally witnessed two people lose their hands at the same time while playing tug-of-war. The physics behind it is simple. These two wrapped the rope around their hand in a game that was roughly 50 people vs 50 people. The tension in the rope was likely thousands of pounds which wants to straighten the rope. The straightened rope hyper extends the joints and tendons in your hand. As their teammates witnessed what was occurring, they freaked out and released the rope which caused the rope to pull out very quickly. The high tension and high friction just slices through muscles and tendons.
Edit: The rope didn’t even snap.
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