Figure (a) shows details of the finger in the crimp hold of the climber. The figure shows the tendon that runs from the muscles in the forearm, attached to the far bone in the finger. Along the way, the tendon runs through several guiding sheaths called pulleys. The A2 pulley is attached to the first finger bone, and the A4 pulley is attached to the second finger bone. To pull the finger toward the palm, the forearm muscles pull the tendon through the pulleys, much like strings on a marionette can be pulled to move parts of the marionette. Figure (b) is a simplified diagram of the second finger bone, which has length d. The tendon's pull on the bone acts at the point where the tendon enters the A4 pulley, at a distance d/3 along the bone. If the force components on each of the four crimped fingers in the figure are Fh = 13.6 and Fv = 161.4 N, what is the magnitude of the result? It is probably tolerable, but if the climber hangs by only one or two fingers, the A2 and A4 pulleys can be ruptured, which is a common ailment among rock climbers.
First finger bone
Second finger bone
Tendon
Far bone
Attached