It's not magic... It's just PHYSICS!!!
What if a simple, portable mobility aid made it possible to pull only about a quarter to a third of someone’s body-weight from a sitting to a standing position?
But what does it all mean and how does it work?
That’s grandma! She made me promise not to reveal her real weight - she likes to tell people she’s just a hundred pounds soaking wet.
But this is science and we’ve gotta work with facts. I’ll explain that to her later. She’ll get over it... (I hope.)
Sorry, Grandma...
But this is science and we’ve gotta work with facts. I’ll explain that to her later. She’ll get over it... (I hope.)
Sorry, Grandma...
With just a measuring tape, a standard bathroom scale, ten fingers and a couple of toes - or better yet - a pocket calculator, we can easily figure out the numbers to plug into our physics equation.
I’ve got Grandma all measured up and now it's time to check our results.
Here’s what our formula proves:
When Grandma sits back on her chair like this, her assistant could easily hurt herself trying to pull Grandma up. In this position, the physics shows us the Pull Force required to get Grandma to her feet is 74 pounds.
And, by the way, Newton’s Third Law, Action Force equals Reaction Force, means that Grandma also is going to feel a 74 pound pull on her end. Nothing easy about that!
What can we do to reduce the Pull Force?
I’ve got Grandma all measured up and now it's time to check our results.
Here’s what our formula proves:
When Grandma sits back on her chair like this, her assistant could easily hurt herself trying to pull Grandma up. In this position, the physics shows us the Pull Force required to get Grandma to her feet is 74 pounds.
And, by the way, Newton’s Third Law, Action Force equals Reaction Force, means that Grandma also is going to feel a 74 pound pull on her end. Nothing easy about that!
What can we do to reduce the Pull Force?
Well, if Grandma scoots forward a little, all the numbers change. She’s putting more of her weight on the floor and reducing the weight she’s putting on her chair.
When Grandma sits forward on her chair like this, the chance of injury to her assistant lessens considerably. In this position, the physics shows us the Pull Force required to get Grandma to her feet is now 45 pounds.
Don’t forget Newton’s Third Law, Action Force equals Reaction Force: Grandma, too, is going to feel a pull on her end of 45 pounds. It’s getting easier!
But is there a way to reduce the Pull Force even further? Let’s see…
When Grandma sits forward on her chair like this, the chance of injury to her assistant lessens considerably. In this position, the physics shows us the Pull Force required to get Grandma to her feet is now 45 pounds.
Don’t forget Newton’s Third Law, Action Force equals Reaction Force: Grandma, too, is going to feel a pull on her end of 45 pounds. It’s getting easier!
But is there a way to reduce the Pull Force even further? Let’s see…
Hey, look! Grandma wants to stand up now! Because of the PULL ME UP her assistant is holding out, Grandma feels confident enough to scoot all the way to the edge of her chair.
You’ll notice she’s moved forward enough that her nose is over her knees, which is a good indication of her intention to stand.
In fact, in this position, Grandma has now done everything she can to stand without assistance. And check out the numbers!
When Grandma has scooted to the end of her chair like this, the chance of injury to her assistant is quite minimal. In this position, the physics shows us the Pull Force required to get Grandma to her feet is only 39 pounds, just 30% of Grandma’s body-weight.
And of course, Newton’s Third Law, Action Force equals Reaction Force: means that in this position, Grandma will experience a nice, easy pull, exerting the same 39 pounds as her assistant as she stands up.
You’ll notice she’s moved forward enough that her nose is over her knees, which is a good indication of her intention to stand.
In fact, in this position, Grandma has now done everything she can to stand without assistance. And check out the numbers!
When Grandma has scooted to the end of her chair like this, the chance of injury to her assistant is quite minimal. In this position, the physics shows us the Pull Force required to get Grandma to her feet is only 39 pounds, just 30% of Grandma’s body-weight.
And of course, Newton’s Third Law, Action Force equals Reaction Force: means that in this position, Grandma will experience a nice, easy pull, exerting the same 39 pounds as her assistant as she stands up.
Hey! There’s grandpa! Hi, Gramps!
Wow! Check out Grandpa’s numbers!
At 190 pounds, Grandpa weighs a bit more than Grandma. Still, when you get it all measured up, by the time Grandpa has done everything he can to stand before needing assistance, the Pull Force required by his assistance is only 44 pounds, just 23% of Grandpa’s weight.
And with Newton’s Third Law, Grandpa also will only exert a Pull Force of 44 pounds as his assistant pulls him up. And that’s a REALLY good thing for my Grandpa because he’s got two bad shoulders.
You know, at the end of the day, it’s all about the "HANDle." The PULL ME UP is a wonderful, portable handle that gives people the confidence to get into the optimum position for a nice, easy pull.
Wow! Check out Grandpa’s numbers!
At 190 pounds, Grandpa weighs a bit more than Grandma. Still, when you get it all measured up, by the time Grandpa has done everything he can to stand before needing assistance, the Pull Force required by his assistance is only 44 pounds, just 23% of Grandpa’s weight.
And with Newton’s Third Law, Grandpa also will only exert a Pull Force of 44 pounds as his assistant pulls him up. And that’s a REALLY good thing for my Grandpa because he’s got two bad shoulders.
You know, at the end of the day, it’s all about the "HANDle." The PULL ME UP is a wonderful, portable handle that gives people the confidence to get into the optimum position for a nice, easy pull.
But wait! The calculations we just did
with Grandma and Grandpa didn’t take into consideration what is perhaps the
most exciting aspect of all!
The Momentum Factor!
Grandma and Grandpa aren’t inanimate objects like Resuscitation Annie here. Remember Annie from CPR class? Boy, she hasn’t aged a day!
No, Grandma and Grandpa are living, breathing people who possess a reasonable degree of mobility.
Grandma and Grandpa aren’t inanimate objects like Resuscitation Annie here. Remember Annie from CPR class? Boy, she hasn’t aged a day!
No, Grandma and Grandpa are living, breathing people who possess a reasonable degree of mobility.
As you can see, Grandpa is still quite mobile, even WITH his bad shoulders!
Both he and Grandma are more than capable of offering a little extra push from the floor just before getting a pull by an assistant, especially when given a cue such as “one, two, three and up.”
This cue helps them synchronize their pull up with a little push off the floor.
And just that little extra push can make a BIG DIFFERENCE in the Pull Force.
How much difference? That depends on the ability of the person being pulled: the bigger the push, the less the Pull Force required by the assistant.
Both he and Grandma are more than capable of offering a little extra push from the floor just before getting a pull by an assistant, especially when given a cue such as “one, two, three and up.”
This cue helps them synchronize their pull up with a little push off the floor.
And just that little extra push can make a BIG DIFFERENCE in the Pull Force.
How much difference? That depends on the ability of the person being pulled: the bigger the push, the less the Pull Force required by the assistant.
So the physics proves the PULL ME UP makes it possible to pull just a quarter to a third of the body-weight of the person being pulled. And that’s without ANY extra little push by the person being pulled!
Add in the Momentum Factor and you’ll see how the Pull Force required by an assistant will NEVER be more than a quarter to a third and typically, it will be less... most times, SUBSTANTIALLY less!!!
Talk about a WIN WIN!!!
Add in the Momentum Factor and you’ll see how the Pull Force required by an assistant will NEVER be more than a quarter to a third and typically, it will be less... most times, SUBSTANTIALLY less!!!
Talk about a WIN WIN!!!