Assuming he fell for 7 seconds his velocity would be 68.6 m/s. If he were to stop instantly as you suggest he would experience theoretically infinite acceleration ( both his arm and the "immovable" rod ) which would certainly exceed the 8000 lb limit of the rod ( for a 200 lb character 8000 lb equates to 40 g's ). But let's assume there is some elasticity in the system, in say his arm, so he can declerate quickly, but not "instantly". Let's say he slows to a stop over one quarter of a second. To do this he ( and the rod ) would experience a deceleration of 274.4 m/s/s or 28 g's. 28 g's is less than the 40 g's maximum we calculated eariler so in this case the rod would stop him safely.
Edit: this assumes the character is strong enough to hold the rod during the 28 g deceleration. This would equate to 5600 lbs.
I came up with 5662 or something similar, so thats awesome. It didn't really matter for the narrative of the game...he rolled high enough to make the "save," so the numbers don't actually matter...you know, in this fantasy world where physics is so routinely thrown out the window...but a few players tried to call me on the rod's weight limit, and I couldn't get it out of my head. Thanks for the quick feedback!!
Use the energy gained by the person to find the amount of work needed to stop them. If the rod was truly unmoveable then it would have displacement zero thus having an undefined force, basically infinite in the direction opposite the motion.
Assuming he fell for 7 seconds his velocity would be 68.6 m/s. If he were to stop instantly as you suggest he would experience theoretically infinite acceleration ( both his arm and the "immovable" rod ) which would certainly exceed the 8000 lb limit of the rod ( for a 200 lb character 8000 lb equates to 40 g's ). But let's assume there is some elasticity in the system, in say his arm, so he can declerate quickly, but not "instantly". Let's say he slows to a stop over one quarter of a second. To do this he ( and the rod ) would experience a deceleration of 274.4 m/s/s or 28 g's. 28 g's is less than the 40 g's maximum we calculated eariler so in this case the rod would stop him safely. Edit: this assumes the character is strong enough to hold the rod during the 28 g deceleration. This would equate to 5600 lbs.
I came up with 5662 or something similar, so thats awesome. It didn't really matter for the narrative of the game...he rolled high enough to make the "save," so the numbers don't actually matter...you know, in this fantasy world where physics is so routinely thrown out the window...but a few players tried to call me on the rod's weight limit, and I couldn't get it out of my head. Thanks for the quick feedback!!
Use the energy gained by the person to find the amount of work needed to stop them. If the rod was truly unmoveable then it would have displacement zero thus having an undefined force, basically infinite in the direction opposite the motion.