Home Alone Rough Draft (2)

Home Alone or Murder Alone? (PGP-13)

   This film is about a young child using his creative mind to fend off obstinate burglars from ruining his holiday. This movie depicts Kevin McCallister constructing wild Rube Goldberg traps from everyday household items. The iconic 1990 film highlights overcoming adversity with comical perseverance and has brought joy to all ages in the winter seasons. Despite that some scenes were exaggerated to deride the physical torment endured by the home burglars, this scene stood out to me as the most realistic yet flawed.

Q: How much force is exerted by the paint bucket to Harry & Marv's face?

Physics concept: Conservation of Energy, Impulse, 2D Kinematics, Pendulum (Period Formula)

In this scene, we can see that potential energy (stored energy) exists when holding the paint bucket over his head. The instant Kevin threw the paint bucket the energy is then transferred to kinetic energy (motion energy). Assuming that the bucket has enough mass to knock over 2 adults, it then accumulates velocity thus increasing its net force.

We can calculate v by...

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Period Formula: T = 2π * √(L/g)

Since the trap was built to swing the paint buckets towards the intruders like a pendulum, we can apply the period formula of a pendulum as a supplement to our research. By using the period formula we can gather the height or the maximum length of rope utilized by the device.
Pendulum Period (T)= (4.014 sec/2)= 2.007 sec

Length (L)/Height (h)= 4 m
Acceleration due to gravity (g)= 9.8m/s^2

Using this initial velocity, we can calculate the impulse (the change in an object's momentum over time) and can extract the net force that was emitted to both burglars' faces. 

*Impulse is derived from Newton's 2nd Law (F=ma). Sir Isaac Newton promotes that when a net external force acts on an object, the object experiences an acceleration in the direction of the resultant force with a magnitude proportional to the force and inversely proportional to its mass.*

Impulse

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**Final Velocity is 0 m/s since the paint bucket came to a rest after impact**

In Conclusion...

Kevin indeed was having the time of his life torturing the antagonists of his film, maybe too much fun. Although his traps were not intended for killing, data provides that almost any one of Kevin's booby traps can incapacitate or finish his enemies for good. Unlike cartoon characters,