A carnival scam: The secret behind the "Ladder Climb Carnival Game"
We've all been duped by these games at amusement parks and on seaside bridges. The bottlering toss, the baseball bottle toss, the basketball three-point shots. Why are these games, which seem so easy at first glance, so difficult? It's not you. It's the science.
The showmen intentionally make these games look easy on the outside to lure you in, but behind the scenes they've built in clever physics that make winning much more difficult, almost impossible.
One example of this is climbing the ladder. At first glance, it seems simple: climb the hanging ladder on all fours to the top and win a giant cuddly toy. But there's a reason why the prizes in this game are so big. It's very hard to win...
Former NASA and Apple engineer Mark Rober explains in his video "Carnival Scam Science (and how to WIN)" the basic physics that make this game so difficult, and the secret to beating it.
Unlike a rope bridge, which is supported by two points at each end, the carnival ladder is supported by one point at each end. This is important because it derails your body's aid in keeping you balanced: Your center of mass.
The center of mass is the point on an object where all the weight is evenly distributed. If you are trying to balance something on your finger, the point on the object where it can balance itself without outside help is its center of mass. To keep the object balanced, you must keep the center of gravity within the support area:
When standing, a person's center of support is between the heels and the tips of the toes. To keep your balance when standing, you must keep your center of gravity between these two points:
Therefore, when you bend down to pick up an object from the floor, you automatically stick your butt out; your body naturally keeps your center of gravity between the two points of support so you don't fall over.
When you crawl over a conventional rope bridge, the support area is located between all four end points of the bridge, i.e. over a fairly large area. Since the carnival ladder only has one point at each end, the support area is just a line. You are basically crawling across a wire rope:
This may look similar to a slackline, but a slackline is easier because you can move your arms and legs to keep your center of gravity above the support line.
The secret to beating the carnival rope ladder? Keeping your center of gravity above a line, which unfortunately you can only do well with a lot of practice.
Our advice: stop climbing the ladder and ride the rollercoaster instead!
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