Re: What force helps win a tug of war game?

In essence, whoever pulls hardest does win. However, there are several things at play in tug of war.

What lets you pull against something with your arms? Friction. The fact that your feet don't slide across the ground when you pull on the rope is caused by friction. Imagine you were standing on a slick waxed floor in your socks, and you pulled on a door as hard as you could. What would happen? You would slide across the floor. Your body weight controls the amount of friction you have. If you weighed 250 pounds and did the same experiment, you would have to pull really hard to slide across the floor. At the same time, the surface you are standing on controls the amount of friction you have. If you're in a car, you have more traction on a dry road than you have in the mud. Also- in the winter, cars take advantage of the weight factor. People who drive pickup trucks in icy areas put hundreds of pounds of weight in the back of the truck so that the truck weighs more. Thus- the tires have more friction on the road, and they don't slide as easily.

So what makes up a good tug of war team? I have found through experimentation (at summer camps as a kid) that you need an anchor, middlemen and frontmen. The anchor is the heaviest person on your team. The anchor provides friction, and holds the rope against the other team. The middlemen are the middle-weight people who inch the rope forward. The frontmen are the lightest on the team who are responsible for pulling hard and fast, in hopes of making the other team lose grip on the rope.

Hope this helps.
-Fred