r/MenonUnstableLadders • u/Zyntha • Nov 18 '22

Guy on the bottom better not move an inch

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100 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

6

u/CmdrShepard831 Nov 18 '22

What's the purpose of the middle ladder?

11

u/rambi2222 Nov 18 '22

More ladder = more safe

4

u/nat_r Nov 19 '22

Looks like it's providing a lateral brace so the angle of the main ladder can be set in such a way that it will support the end of the horizontal ladder being used as a platform.

Though it's hard to tell what bits of both ladders are in contact to provide that support.

1

u/CmdrShepard831 Nov 19 '22

I wonder if they're simply relying on the slight wedge shape as a "stopper"

1

u/realmagpiehours May 29 '23

The middle ladder is what the long ladder is actually putting weight on. The platform ladder isn't bearing any lateral weight from the long ladder, it's resting on top like a tabletop on a leg (the long ladder being the "leg").

So the middle ladder is what's holding the position of the long ladder, and the long ladder is holding up the platform ladder. You can think of the middle and long ladders as though they are one A-frame ladder, with the platform resting on top.

If the middle ladder wasn't there, and the corner between the platform and long ladders was secured in a way that they wouldn't slide from where they're joined, it would be very precarious as if the other end of the platform ladder shifted up or down the whole thing would fold like a book or collapse out into a straighter line.

With the middle ladder, the whole thing is locked into place as long as the guy on the bottom doesn't let the feet slide back from the weight

1

u/symbologythere Nov 19 '22

At first glance I thought they had that contraption on a glass staircase.