Backyard waterslide - not bad. Not bad at all.

[Sho'Nuff]

Not bad, considering it was mostly built by a 12-13 year old kid (coworkers nephew)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCoOo-KEATY

Gives me hope for america. At least some kids are learning how to do stuff with their hands instead of watching the TV.

 

[Markbnj]

Great Dad for letting his kid build something like that, and then actually climb it, and then actually slide down it.

Where did they have Mom tied up?

 

[RampantAndroid]

That ladder looks pretty...suspect. Maybe OK for a 12 year old I guess...

 

[Sho'Nuff]

That ladder looks pretty...suspect. Maybe OK for a 12 year old I guess...

Yeah I thought it looked weird too. The kids dad is a mechanical engineer though, and the ladder is supposedly designed so that it is very hard (if not impossible) for someone to fall through it to the ground.

What you don't get from the video is the scale of the slide. It is almost 16 feet high at its peak (well over the rooftop of the house), and features a 75 degree drop. The dad and the kid did some pretty complicated calculations (EDIT - FOR A 12 YEAR OLD you bastards) to determine the launch angle of the thing - there was some concern that it would launch riders over the pool.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Great Dad for letting his kid build something like that, and then actually climb it, and then actually slide down it.

Where did they have Mom tied up?

Mom and Dad are both engineers - they were both involved on the project and actively try to get their kids to create stuff.

 

[CraKaJaX]

That's awesome. You guys already pointed out the ladder ... but did anyone notice the actual slide? @55 & 1:15 it just looks like a heavy tarp laid over the slide. Why didn't they trim up the sides to match the slide itself? And what did they use to attach the 'tarp' to the slide on the inside part so it doesn't shift around everywhere?

 

[Markbnj]

That's awesome. You guys already pointed out the ladder ... but did anyone notice the actual slide? @55 & 1:15 it just looks like a heavy tarp laid over the slide. Why didn't they trim up the sides to match the slide itself? And what did they use to attach the 'tarp' to the slide on the inside part so it doesn't shift around everywhere?

Might be the finish work wasn't done yet, or they're waiting for the state inspector to sign off before painting and putting in the ticket booth.

 

[CPA]

Waiting for some government nanny-stater to swing by and shut the thing down.

Kudos to the kids and parents, though.

 

[GobBluth]

Waiting for some government nanny-stater to swing by and shut the thing down.

Kudos to the kids and parents, though.

My thoughts exactly. I can hear the lawsuit cavalry from miles away. Awesome nonetheless.

 

[amdhunter]

Wow it must be cool to have money.
Also, does Go-Pro fund these stupid ass videos?

And screw the hipster dipshit music too...

 

[KeithP]

My thoughts exactly. I can hear the lawsuit cavalry from miles away. Awesome nonetheless.

Well, I am guessing that no licensed contractors were involved and that the building code wasn't a priority for them. I would be especially interested if the height of the structure is legal.

Looks fun but I don't see it staying up for very long.

-KeithP

 

[skyking]

I don't think it was ever intended to stay up for long, and is about the coolest thing ever.
Lots of backyard skate features are around like that, up for that "one" summer and then torn down.

 

[cbrunny]

very cool. jealous of the sunshine and warm weather. below 0C here today, with snow on the way.

Underwater cameras are fun too. looks like this guy is having a blast.

sigh... one of these days it will be warm enough to swim outside here. It just has to be. Global warming and all.

 

[DrPizza]

Wow it must be cool to have money.
Also, does Go-Pro fund these stupid ass videos?

And screw the hipster dipshit music too...

Quick estimate: around $1k in material, maybe a little less. So, not very expensive at all to build it.

Hopefully they don't have douchebag neighbors with "it's lowering our property value" attitudes.

 

[DrPizza]

Yeah I thought it looked weird too. The kids dad is a mechanical engineer though, and the ladder is supposedly designed so that it is very hard (if not impossible) for someone to fall through it to the ground.

What you don't get from the video is the scale of the slide. It is almost 20 feet high at its peak (well over the rooftop of the house), and features a 75 degree drop. The dad and the kid did some pretty complicated calculations to determine the launch angle of the thing - there was some concern that it would launch riders over the pool.

Congratulations to the parents for how they're raising their children. And, awesome design. Here and there I went frame by frame in the video to see how it was put together. (Personally, I'd have used more 2x6's instead of 2x4's.) I even noticed the hole they had on the side at the bottom so that water didn't form a 2 foot deep pool there.

 

[MrPickins]

It's all fun and games until you hit that splinter on the way down.

 

[Matthiasa]

Yeah I thought it looked weird too. The kids dad is a mechanical engineer though, and the ladder is supposedly designed so that it is very hard (if not impossible) for someone to fall through it to the ground.

What you don't get from the video is the scale of the slide. It is almost 20 feet high at its peak (well over the rooftop of the house), and features a 75 degree drop. The dad and the kid did some pretty complicated calculations to determine the launch angle of the thing - there was some concern that it would launch riders over the pool.

If you by complicated you mean any high school physics class then yes...

 

[Sho'Nuff]

If you by complicated you mean any high school physics class then yes...

Ok smarty pants. You do it and show your work. Take into account the effect of water on the coefficient of friction, a 115 lb person and 30 ft long pool. You know the drop angle and the height.

 

[Matthiasa]

You know full well they didn't actually do that though.

 

[RampantAndroid]

If you by complicated you mean any high school physics class then yes...

Perhaps an advanced high school physics using calculus...certainly college level physics. But they need to first calculate the velocity (not speed, right?) at the bottom of the slide...and then calculate how high that will let the person get, how long before they hit the ground and what their speed is forward.

 

[Pulsar]

Ok smarty pants. You do it and show your work. Take into account the effect of water on the coefficient of friction, a 115 lb person and 30 ft long pool. You know the drop angle and the height.

Are you an engineer? Because WORST case is too little friction, so you fly over the pool. So you do the equations assuming zero friction. If you're not flying over the pool, then you won't with this either. It's a simply potential energy to kinetic energy to projectile motion conversion. Any high school physics kid who's decent at it can figure it out very quickly. mgh, 1/2mV^2, etc.

 

[RampantAndroid]

Are you an engineer? Because WORST case is too little friction, so you fly over the pool. So you do the equations assuming zero friction. If you're not flying over the pool, then you won't with this either. It's a simply potential energy to kinetic energy to projectile motion conversion. Any high school physics kid who's decent at it can figure it out very quickly. mgh, 1/2mV^2, etc.

Personally, I'd assume no friction just to make sure I wouldn't overshoot (it is plastic with water, so friction will be pretty low.) Which fits my HS physics...I don't think we did friction until I was in college in Physics 201 (the intro physics course for engineers.)

 

[Pulsar]

Perhaps an advanced high school physics using calculus...certainly college level physics. But they need to first calculate the velocity (not speed, right?) at the bottom of the slide...and then calculate how high that will let the person get, how long before they hit the ground and what their speed is forward.

Which is a problem that, quite literally, takes 2 minutes.

From memory.

PE = mgh.

KE = 1/2 * m * V^2.

Trig gets your X and Y component of velocity.

Use the Y component to determine flight time.

Use that flight time to calculate flight distance.

Bam. Done.

In fact, to continue on,

Since PE at the top = KE at the bottom, mgh = 1/2 M V ^ 2. So (and there's a lesson here) mass cancels out entirely. Leaving g * h = 1/2 V ^ 2.

So your exit velocity = sqrt ( 2 * g * h )....

Seriously. This stuff is cake.

 

[RampantAndroid]

Which is a problem that, quite literally, takes 2 minutes.

From memory.

PE = mgh.

KE = 1/2 * m * V^2.

Trig gets your X and Y component of velocity.

Use the Y component to determine flight time.

Use that flight time to calculate flight distance.

Bam. Done.

In fact, to continue on,

Since PE at the top = KE at the bottom, mgh = 1/2 M V ^ 2. So (and there's a lesson here) mass cancels out entirely. Leaving g * h = 1/2 V ^ 2.

So your exit velocity = sqrt ( 2 * g * h )....

Seriously. This stuff is cake.

PE = KE only with no friction, of course

Your memory is far better than mine - I would stumbled through this...but it's been ages since I did any kinetics...I'm more likely to remember the problems we had on rockets (since mass is decreasing as you use fuel) than basic kinetics since those were dumped on us to figure out on our own.

 

[Matthiasa]

Perhaps an advanced high school physics using calculus...certainly college level physics. But they need to first calculate the velocity (not speed, right?) at the bottom of the slide...and then calculate how high that will let the person get, how long before they hit the ground and what their speed is forward.

You can actually use algebra for that, though that is super worst case scenario for the numbers.
No friction you would shoot past the pool, or maybe just into the back wall.
(~38ft if I didn't mess up)

Now for real numbers using actual physics, 3d fluid dynamics is barely a thing, if accuracy matters, even before taking into account the human body and impact.