Amazing and Terrifying Wildfire Maths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . METRIC UNITS

 

With the catastrophic Californian fires burning into November and wildfires currently burning in NSW and Qld, Australia, I had to repost this firefighter maths for middle school classrooms.

Radiant Heat Stats WA Fire Dept FACEBOOK, Australian Bushfires 14 NOV 2019 MyFireWatch WA

 Wildfires USA 2019 Map: Ecowest,

METRIC UNITS

Background Story

On 5^th August 1949 Wag Dodge was dropped by parachute with 14 other fire fighters into Mann Gulch, a steep-sided gully in a Montana pine forest. Fire fighters who parachute in to put out small blazes started by lightening are called Smoke Jumpers. As they worked their way down the sides of the gully the breeze was blowing away from them. But the wind soon shifted. This produced an updraft, which increases the speed of the fire front. The 15 Smoke Jumpers turned and started running for their lives uphill.

HOW FAST CAN YOU RUN?

METRIC UNITS

Time Trial:

Mark out a 10 m course. Make 3 time trials.

t₁ =

t₂ =

t₃=

Average your time:

t_av = (t₁ + t₂ + t₃₎/ 3 =

Your Speed S = 10/t_av = ……… m/sec

HOW FAST IS A GRASS FIRE?

This will, of course, vary depending on the wind speed. A typical grass fire in Australia in a flat area can travel at 20kph (up to 30 kph) in a gentle breeze.

Fire Front Speed Grass Fire

Fire Front Speed = 20 kph = 20 x1000/(60 x 60)

                               = 20 x 0.27777777 = 20 x 0.28 m/sec

                               = 5.6 m/sec

CAN YOU OUT RUN A FIRE?

Average Running Speed Boy 13–14 yo = 3.0 m/sec

Average Running Speed Girl 13–14 yo = 2.4 m/sec

We’ll assume, boy or girl, that you are really motivated and can run away from the fire at top speed of 3.0 m/sec. Now calculate the distance you can run and the fire front moves in 10 secs intervals up to 1 minute.

This is not looking good. See more Firefighters Need Maths here.

We can do very accurate calculations using simultaneous equations. Wildfire Algebra: Detailed Worksheet using simultaneous equations and solutions  here.

NOW YOU ARE RUNNING UP HILL. WHAT HAPPENS?

We’ll assume, due to being motivated by having a fire licking your heels, that you can run at your top speed up hill for a short time, at least. But here is the problem.

Heat rises and so there is a Chimney Effect pushing the fire uphill. The rule of thumb used by fire fighters is:

Each 10º increase in slope, the fire front speed doubles.

Now you can calculate the distance travelled by the fire front up a slope at a 30º angle.

Don’t forget you can use the WEB 2.0 Calculator here.

Even at your top running speed, which is unlikely up a slope, you can run 180 m in 1 minute. In that time the forefront has moved 2688 m or 2.7 km.

It depends how far away you are from the fire front, but it seems you cannot out run this fire front.

Again we can do very accurate calculations using simultaneous equations.

See Firefighters Need Maths here.

Wildfire Algebra: Worksheet and solutions here.

CAN YOU OUT RUN A WILD FIRE?

High winds can turn a bush or forrest fire into a WILD FIRE with wind speeds up to 110 kph and temperatures up to 2000 °C, which can and does melt glass and cars.

The fire front speed doubles with every 10º, so speeds for the fire front can reach 220 kph, 330kph and up to 550kph.

What happened to the Smoke Jumpers?

When the fire front changed direction Wag Dodge and 14 other Smoke Jumpers found themselves running for their lives up a steep slope. What did Wag do next?

ANS: Here’s the amazing thing. Wag realised he could not out run the fire at that point. So he stopped. Took off his back pack. Took out some MATCHES and lit a fire in the grassy patch in front of him. Just before the firewall hit he threw himself face down on the burnt patch. He survived. The other 14 firefighters did not.

2. Stuntman Math: Jumping off a Building

This is a repost of Mathspig’s very popular Stuntman/woman series.

The main concern when jumping off a building is that the airbag (cardboard boxes) cover the drop zone.

The maths calculations involved in jumping off a building are straightforward. You might like to check out How Maths Solved a real murder.

Jump Height that Kills

It doesn’t take much of a fall to cause damage. Sean Hughes, professor of surgery at Imperial College, London. Says “From a height of 3m you could fracture your spine,” he says. “At around 10m, you’re looking at very serious injuries.” (The Guardian, 20 MAY 2014)

Stunt Jump from building from standing start

As this jump – as in most base jumps – involves a standing start:

Airbagsupplies.

Stunt jump from building running

We will assume you are no Usain Bolt. His running speed, the fastest in the world, is 44.72 km/h (12.42m/s, 27.44 mph).

We’ll say your running speed on take-off is:

V_y = 15 mph = 24.1 kph = 6.7 m/sec

Don’t do this at home.

NB: Airbag dimensions: 20m x 20m x 4 m

Handstand of death

Would you jump off a 25 story building?

 

Sharp Shooter Maths …. METRIC

Mathspig grew up on a police station in the small Australian country town of Kyneton, Victoria in the 1960s. Australia has a very strict gun laws today. But such laws didn’t exist in the sixties. My Dad’s .22 rifle rested against our fridge. He pocketed the magazine.

A .22 means a bullet calibre of .22 inches.

My Dad the Sharp Shooter stopped a stolen car with one bullet. This was considered legendary by his fellow cops. He didn’t shoot the tyres. He managed, by accident and possibly even though he was aiming at the tyres, to hit the electrical lead into the car’s  distributor cap. Phht! Car go no more. More on my childhood here.

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Sharp Shooter Maths

One measure of the accuracy of rifles, riflescopes but also the sharpshooter is the MOA or Minute of Angle.  The MOA can also be used to define the target zone (circle).

I cannot show you a triangle with an angle of 1′ because it would have to be 100m long on one side and only 3cm tall.

Needless to say, drawings are NOT to scale.

A sharpshooter can put 5 out of 6 bullets in a target zone drawn at 1′ angle around centre of target at any distance.

As the distance away from the target increases the target zone circle area increases.

A sharp shooter would be considered very skilled if they can shoot within a target zone (circle) of 10.5 inch radius at 1000 yds. Hitting a bull’s eye at this distance is down to luck.

Sharp Shooter Math …. USA units

Mathspig grew up on a police station in the small Australian country town of Kyneton, Victoria in the 1960s. Australia has a very strict gun laws today. But such laws didn’t exist in the sixties. My Dad’s .22 rifle rested against our fridge. He pocketed the magazine.

A .22 means a bullet calibre of .22 inches.

My Dad the Sharp Shooter stopped a stolen car with one bullet. This was considered legendary by his fellow cops. He didn’t shoot the tyres. He managed, by accident and possibly even though he was aiming at the tyres, to hit the electrical lead into the car’s  distributor cap. Phht! Car go no more. More on my childhood here.

cc

cc

Sharp Shooter Maths

One measure of the accuracy of rifles, riflescopes but also the sharpshooter is the MOA or Minute of Angle.  TheMOA can also be used to define the target zone (circle).

I cannot show you a triangle with an angle of 1′ because it would have to be 100 yds long on one side and only 1 inch tall.

Needless to say, drawings are NOT to scale.

A sharpshooter can put 5 out of 6 bullets in a target zone drawn at 1′ angle around centre of target at any distance.

As the distance away from the target increases the target zone circle area increases.

A sharp shooter would be considered very skilled if they can shoot within a target zone (circle) of 10.5 inch radius at 1000 yds. Hitting a bull’s eye at this distance is down to luck.

Sound Math 1: Good Vibrations!

There is so much maths around sound, but sound is simple.

Sound is made by something vibrating in air. The vibrations create waves and these pressure waves hit your ear.

Projects Studio Handbook HARMONICS

This is a vibration plate. Sand collects in the areas which do not vibrate and create patterns. The patterns are called CHLADNI figures.

In fact, the sand collects in places where standing waves – waves that cancel each other out – form. The rest of the plate is vibrating and making the sound.

You will find more info about this violin shaped vibration plate here.

The frequency of the sound creating this Chladni pattern is shown in Hertz Hz (no. pressure waves per second that his your ear) is shown  for each pattern. (More about frequency in following posts)

Other Sound Math:

Make a match Box sing like Sinatra

The Curious Nature of Drummers’ Brains

Headbanger Maths

Pump Up the volume or Knock, Knock Knockin on Your skull wall!

Sound Math 3: How loud is LOUD?

The logarithmic equation for sound and the decibel calculator here

More here

Other Sound Math:

Make a match Box sing like Sinatra

The Curious Nature of Drummers’ Brains

Headbanger Maths

Pump Up the volume or Knock, Knock Knockin on Your skull wall!

Sound Math 4: Make a match Box sing like Sinatra

Other Mathspig Sound Posts:

The Curious Nature of Drummers’ Brains

Headbanger Maths

Pump Up the volume or Knock, Knock Knockin on Your skull wall!