Force and work- Tarzan swinging on a rope!?

livbly

New member
We are just now learning about energy and work in my physics class, so we are trying to approahc kinematics from that angle (no pun intended). Here is a problem I'm not quite sure about:

Tarzan runs at top speed (5.0 m/s) and grasps a 4.0 m vine hanging vertically from a tall tree in the jungle.
a) how high can he swing upward?
b) does the length of the vine affect the answer?
c) does Tarzan's mass affect the answer

I think that his mass and length of the vine affect the answer because gravity is one of the forces pulling him down. So his energy "balance" is:
Ktf + Krf + Ugf= Kti + Kri + Ugi + Work

where Kt is translational kinetic energy, Kr is rotational kinetic energy and Ug is potential energy

Can someone help me solve this?
Thank you!
 
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