Answer :
Final answer:
The breaking strength for lanyards and lifelines must be greater than the weight of the person using them, designed with a significant safety factor to prevent failure under stress. Calculation of the force on anchors, using the weight of the climber and the angle of the rope, ensures that the stress on the equipment is within safe limits.
Explanation:
The breaking strength for lanyards and lifelines must be significantly higher than the weight of the person using them to ensure safety. The rope should not break under the weight of the person hanging; instead, the person should climb down with sufficient acceleration to ensure that the tension in the rope remains below its breaking strength. This is critical in applications such as mountain climbing, where the safety of the climber depends on the integrity of their equipment.
In a hypothetical scenario where a climber is suspended by a rope, the force on each anchor can be calculated considering the weight of the climber (L) and the angle formed by the rope (θ). An angle less than 90 degrees is advised to avoid excess stress on the anchors.
For instance, when θ equals 0 degrees, the force S at each anchor would hold the full load L, while an angle of θ equals 180 degrees would theoretically require infinite force, implying the system's failure. The minimum angle for which the force on the anchors equals or exceeds the weight of the climber indicates the critical point for anchor failure.
