How many ways to measure building heightwith a dead cat?***

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TradIsGood

Trad climber

Gunks end of country

Topic Author's Reply - Mar 8, 2006 - 07:52am PT

Measuring building height with dead cat, and toothpicks - least mathematical solution

Bribery works!

This little calculator may be helpful and save you some time You can use it to find out what time the "solar altitude" will be 45 degrees. That is, the time that the sun will be 45 degrees above the horizon.

If it never gets that high, you can wait until later in the summer. Or you can modify this method slightly.

So on a predicted sunny day, take your cat and toothpicks out to an area near the building. Ideally you should be somewhere near the shadow of the top of the building.

Poke a toothpick (1) in the ground. Lay out the cat horizontally with its head at (1) and pointed in the same direction as you expect the shadow to be when the sun hits 45 degrees. Put toothpick (2) at the cat's full extension. The distance from (1) to (2) should now be exactly one international cat unit (ICU).

Now carefully prop the cat up vertically, at position (1). Frozen cats or stiff cats will be easier to use. You may now take toothpick 1 out of the ground. Keep it handy. It will be ok to chew it a little, but you will need it later.

Patiently sit and wait for the shadow to reach toothpick (2). As soon as the shadow gets to toothpick (2), take the toothpick out of your mouth and run over and put toothpick (1) at the end of the building shadow. You may now retrieve the cat and the other toothpick. Take them over to the new position of toothpick (1).
Lay the cat out fully extended with one end at toothpick (1). Mark its full extension (perhaps with toothpick 2). Pick the cat up and lay it out again. Repeat this until you reach the building. The length of the shadow will be the length of the building in ICU.

Of course, today, anything north of about Philadelphia will not see the sun reach 45 degrees, so the shadow will always exceed the building height. In this case you could alter the method to wait until the shadow of the cat reaches 2 ICUs. Then the length of the building shadow will of course be twice the building height in ICUs.

Crimpergirl

Sport climber

St. Louis

Mar 8, 2006 - 08:03am PT

TIG says "It will be ok to chew it a little, but you will need it later."

Which part of the cat do you think is best to chew on?

TradIsGood

Trad climber

Gunks end of country

Topic Author's Reply - Mar 8, 2006 - 08:04am PT

There is another alternative...

If you can find someone to trade you a barometer for your cat - you might have to throw in a few toothpicks to get a good barometer...

With your new barometer, the problem of measuring a building height is well known.

TradIsGood

Trad climber

Gunks end of country

Topic Author's Reply - Mar 8, 2006 - 08:06am PT

Crimpie, hopefully after you are rested, you will read the solution more carefully. You chew on the toothpick, not the cat.

Be sure not to run with either in your mouth.

climberweenie

Trad climber

San Jose, CA

Mar 8, 2006 - 12:37pm PT

Prefer long-haired cats (e.g. Persian) for this method...
1) shave cat
2) create long thin yarn from cat hair
3) attach weight sufficient to deter wind swinging but not enough to break thread
4) lower weight with cat-hair yarn over side, then measure length of yarn required for weight to reach the ground.

climberweenie

Trad climber

San Jose, CA

Mar 8, 2006 - 12:46pm PT

Assuming you have a live cat:

1) Record the sound of the cat in a terrified state to attain a baseline frequency measurement.
2) On the second floor of the tall building, open a window and place a person with a sound recording device.
3) Directly above this window at the top of the building, drop the cat from a rest position (first cut claws off cat so it doesn't stick to the arm of the person doing the dropping)
4) Record the sound of the terrified cat passing this position, *and* with synchronized timestamps record the visual of the passing cat.
5) Use this information to measure the sound frequency drop (e.g. doppler effect) at several intervals immediately after the cat passes the level mark of the video camera.
6) This sound frequency shift can be used to calculate the velocity of the cat.
7) Assuming the live cat was shaved first (to reduce wind drag), one can make reasonable adjustments for friction and using 9.79 m/s^2 as gravity force (as measured in La Jolla, CA 15 years ago), determine the height the cat has fallen to the points at which velocity measurement was calculated.
8) Note that with several frequency readings, one can obtain several different (most likely increasing unless building is very tall) velocity readings and make several semi-independent measurements of building height to the points of measured velocity.
9) Still need a tape measure to know the height from ground to the measured points of velocity, unless you keep the sound/video recording until the splat sound arrives. Don't forget to account for time delay of splat sound reaching the audio recording device. You need to know the atmospheric pressure and humidity to account for these properly.

bobby hill

Trad climber

Thrill Hill, Texas

Oct 19, 2006 - 08:42am PT

Good Morning!

drawing ala simon bond.

Crimpergirl

Sport climber

St. Louis

Oct 19, 2006 - 09:28am PT

Now THAT is art!

woodcraft

Trad climber

Fairfax, CA

Oct 22, 2006 - 01:12am PT

For this method, buildering up is optional, but attain the top of the building, and fix a rope. The measuring can be done either on rappel, or by ascending the line, but ascending with a trail line will be helpful. Tether your cat with a cord, to avoid dropping it, and fix a 5 gallon bucket filled with water to your harness. To make the measurement, dunk the dead cat in the water, and thwap it on the wall, leaving a mark that is one "cat" in height. (You can see how this would work to measure the building width as well, on tyrolean traverse). Ascend, making the thwap- marks end to end, rewetting the cat as needed. It is wise to knot a cord every 10 cats, to avoid losing count. The trail line is for refilling the bucket. Depending on the building height, it is good to carry a spare cat in case the first one deteriorates. Remember that the thwapping puts considerable strain on the shoulder, so train to strengthen the rotator cuff beforehand. In case of windy conditions, extra cats can be used as pro to prevent swinging (see ST thread on this subject).

GOOD LUCK

screelover

Mountain climber

Ottawa, Canada

Oct 22, 2006 - 03:21pm PT

TIG, a brilliant solution. Can I eat the cat now? And do you have a recommendation for cookng it? I'm thinking maybe sauteed with a bit of garlic. Then eating it while sitting in the shade.

davidji

Social climber

Oct 22, 2006 - 03:31pm PT

I've always done it this way:
Extrude the cat through a narrow die at the top of the building, measuring with a roller measuring device until the cat extends to the ground.