Student’s Guide

Secret Agent – Infiltrating An

Abandoned Factory
Olivier Tardif-Paradis
Mathieu Riopel

Cégep Garneau
Centre de démonstration en sciences physiques (support for the development of
demonstrations)

APP/Student Guide
APP/Guide de l’élève 2
Secret Agent
Background

Bonjour,Hello,

We have just learned from a reliable source that terrorists are preparing a plan, the exact nature of which
eludes us for the moment, that will allow them to enter an old abandoned factory. This isolated factory is
being closely watched by the terrorists and it is very dangerous to approach it. The spy we sent to the
location was able to reveal a few pieces of crucial information that we are passing on to you here. We
recently lost contact with the spy and we fear the worst.

Your mission, if you accept it, is to secretly enter the factory to get information about the terrorists’
activities. The factory is located at the bottom of a cliff. As you can see in this photo, there is a radar
antenna at the top of the cliff. Our spy told us that this antenna is non-functional and that it can therefore
rotate freely about its axis.

Our plan for entering the factory is to descend from the cliff to an air duct on the roof. It will be impossible
for you to put your feet directly on the factory roof, because your presence might be detected. You will
therefore have to descend directly into the air duct, which is equipped with a fan that turns slowly enough
to give you just enough time to pass through. Your descent will have to be synchronized with the rotation
of the fan blades, so that you arrive at the duct when the passage is open. For an inconspicuous,
predictable and gentle descent, we suggest that you wind a cable around the radar antenna. Then, with
you hanging from the cable, it should unwind, dragging the antenna in a rotational motion and allowing
you to descend into the factory. A diagram of the plan is provided on the next page.

You can see that this mission is very

dangerous. To maximize your chances of
success and ensure you do not compromise
your safety, we first want to conduct a
simulation on a reduced scale. You will be
able to take part in the operation only if you
pass this test. You will be given a model of
the setup. You will have to determine when to
time the descent so the secret agent can
enter the factory without touching the fan
blade in the air duct.

This message will self-destruct in five

seconds.
Photos : Norbert Nagel, David Wright, Jim Champion, Aarongunnar.
Good luck.

PBL/Student’s Guide 2
Sketch of the Operation

Antenna

Air
duct

Terrorists’
factory

PBL/Student’s Guide 3
Three-step Cycle

List all the relevant information you gathered when you read the problem. Based on this information, state
what you need to know to solve the problem. As you discover new information, you should summarize
and update the relevant information you have gathered and ask new questions.

List the Following:

What We Know To Determine Summary

PBL/Student’s Guide 4
Questions

1) Calculate the moment of inertia of the rotating object in this problem.

2) Draw a free-body diagram for each of the moving objects in this problem.

PBL/Student’s Guide 5
3) Determine the nature of the force responsible for the radar antenna’s rotational movement.

4) Determine the basic formula that describes the dynamics of a body’s rotational movement.

PBL/Student’s Guide 6
5) Calculate the secret agent’s descent time from the top of the cliff to the factory.

6) Synchronize the secret agent’s descent with the rotation of the fan. Determine the moment when the
secret agent’s descent has to begin.

PBL/Student’s Guide 7