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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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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