In the movie Jurassic Park, there is a scene in which some members of the visiti

Question

In the movie Jurassic Park, there is a scene in which some members of
the visiting group are trapped in the kitchen with dinosaurs outside of
the door. The paleontologist is pressing his shoulder near the center of
the door, trying to keep out the dinosaurs who are on the other side.
The botanist throws herself against the door at the edge right next to
the hinge. A pivotal point in the film is that she cannot reach a gun on
the door because she is trying to help hold the door closed. Would they
improve or worsen their situation if the paleontologist moved to the outer
edge of the door and the botanist went for the gun? Estimate the change
in the torque they are exerting on the door due to the change in their
positions.

Explanation / Answer

Torque = (Radius Perpendicular)(Force) or Torque = (R) (F sin Theta) where theta is the angle at which the force is being applied. at current time: paleontologist is only exerting half of the possible maximum torque. The botanist is exerting no torque at all since her Force is at the pivot point ( hinge) therefore the radius = 0 and so does the torque. If they changed spots: paleontologist moves to outer part of door, his radius from the pivot point doubles, so does his Torque. since the botanist was doing no torque at all, by changing spots and the botanist going for the gun they would actually improve their chances because they would have doubled their torque.

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