I need to do a report on how cranes topple, moment (physics) and there correlation (relasionship).I am an idiot and have forgotten what moment is. so please explian that, how cranes topple and why they dont topple, and the correltion between the two!thank you
First of all, let's think of a crane like a giant see-saw, where the plank itself doesn't have any weight. Now cranes have big weights on one side of the pivot, which they can move along (I think, I may be wrong). These cause what is called a 'turning moment'. The further out from the 'pivot' they are, the greater the moment. The other consideration with a crane is it's load. Generally, this is carried a lot further out from the pivot point, on the opposite side from the weights. Now consider this. If you have a small child sitting on the end of a see-saw, you will be able to balance them with a larger person sat closer to the pivot. This is the principle on which cranes work. The moment is the force times the distance from the pivot, and it must be balanced turning each way for the see-saw/crane not to topple. This is somewhat of a simplification, but hope it helps.
