Revisiting the Ladder on a Wall Problem

Yehuda Salu

Citation: The Physics Teacher 49, 289 (2011); doi: 10.1119/1.3578423

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 Revisiting the Ladder on a Wall
Problem
Yehuda Salu, Howard University, Washington, DC

T
he problem of a ladder leaning on a wall has been a
staple of introductory physics for years. It is discussed
in numerous physics textbooks and in journals.1-4
Now, it even has an Internet presence. Postings from students
seek help for “ladder on a wall” problems. A quick review of
those postings would show that they all deal with frictionless
walls. This is also how the situation is presented in most text-
books. One may get the impression that the friction between
a ladder and a wall is always negligible, or that dealing with it
is so difficult that it should be left out of the realm of intro-
ductory physics. The truth of the matter is that the magni-
tude of the friction coefficient between a ladder and a wall is
not much different from that with the floor, and that friction
with the wall is an important part of the conditions for hav-
ing a static ladder. This paper derives a simple relationship
between the friction coefficients of the ladder with the floor
(m1) and with the wall (m2), when the ladder is in static equi-
librium. Figure 1 shows the forces that act on a ladder that
leans on a wall.
The active force is the
T weight W of the ladder
system (ladder plus the
N climbing person). This
weight is “attached” to
the center of gravity of the
ladder system. The length
of the ladder is L, and the
center of gravity of the
system is at a distance d
W from the feet of the lad-
N der.5 Four reaction forces
T act on the ladder: N1 and
N2 are normal to the floor
and the wall, and T1 and
Fig. 1.
T2 are tangential, respec-
tively. The equations of static equilibrium are:  Fx = 0,  Fy =
0, and  t = 0, where Fx and Fy are the x- and y-components
of the forces that act on the ladder, and t is the torque of those
forces. Applying the static equilibrium equations to the ladder
yields:
N2 = T1 (1)
N1 + T2 – W = 0. (2)
dividing by L cosa :
(3)
The equations for the reaction forces are:
(4)
(5)
where m1 and m2 are the friction coefficients.
0  N1 (6)
0  N2 (7)
For a given ladder system, Eqs. (1)–(3) are a set of three
equations, and they can provide unique solutions to problems
with three unknowns. If all four reaction forces are unknown,
the system is underdetermined. One way of making the equa-
tions determined is by adding physical details, such as the
elastic properties of the ladder, which affect the forces that act
on the ladder.3,4 This adds to the complexity of the problem.
To make the equations determined while preserving their
simplicity, T2 = 0 (no friction with the wall) is commonly
added as a fourth equation. The solution of Eqs. (1)–(3) under
this condition is:
(8)
When the wall is frictionless (T2 = m2 = 0), the range of the
safe friction coefficient between the ladder and the floor is
found by substituting N1 and T1 from Eq. (8) into (4):
(9)
In the following, a simple expression for the relationship
between the friction coefficients of the ladder with the floor
and with the wall for a static ladder is derived. This relation-
ship does not depend on the ladder’s elasticity.
In order to study the effects of the wall’s friction, inequali-
ties (4)–(7) have to be merged with the static equilibrium Eqs.
(1)–(3). We start by fixing T2. The solutions of Eqs. (1)–(3)
are:

In order to calculate the torques, the point of contact of the

ladder with the floor is chosen as the pivot around which the
cross product of each force and its arm are calculated. The
sum of the torques is then:
–N2L sina – T2L cosa + W . d cos a = 0, which gives, after

DOI: 10.1119/1.3578423 The Physics Teacher ◆ Vol. 49, May 2011 289
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 From Eqs. (5) and (11):
which gives:
(13)
From Eqs. (12) and (13):
(14)
From Eqs. (4) and (14):
and using (10) and (13),
(15)
Equation (15) is a general relationship between the param-
eters of a static ladder. Comparing it with Eq. (9) shows how
increasing m2 (the friction coefficient between the wall and
the ladder) drives down the required m1 (the friction coef-
ficient between the floor and the ladder).
If the a of a static ladder is gradually decreased, a point is
reached at which the ladder starts to slip. At this angle, at least
one of the friction forces is less than the required tangential
force: T1 > m1N1 and/or T2 > m2N2. For any ladder configura-
tion (given d, L, and a ), fixing one friction coefficient (m1 or
m2) determines the minimum of the other coefficient at that
angle. Equation (15) with an equals sign gives the relation be-
tween these two friction coefficients.
If m2 = 0, Eq. (15) becomes (9), as it should.
If m1= 0, then a = 90o or m2 =  , as they should. That
means that without friction with the floor (m1= 0), a leaning
ladder cannot be kept static just by friction with the wall. If
the center of gravity of the ladder system is at the middle of
the ladder, d/L = 0.5 and Eq. (15) becomes:
(16)
Examples: The center of gravity is at the middle of a ladder
that makes an angle of 45o with the floor. The friction coef-
ficient with the floor is 0.3.
290 The Physics Teacher ◆ Vol. 49, May 2011
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(a) Is the ladder static if there is no friction with the wall?
Answer: Based on Eq. (16), the smallest required friction
coefficient is
which is more than the available 0.3. Therefore, the ladder is
not static.
(b) What is the smallest friction coefficient with the wall
that will make the ladder static?
Answer: Based on Eq. (15),
2
which gives m2 = 1.33.
As physics educators, we are always looking for problems
that are “more thinking than memorization.” By considering
the friction with the wall, we do not add to the memorization
component of the problem. All the additional efforts are pure
thinking—implementing existing knowledge of inequalities.
However, including a topic in the curriculum is a question of
optimization and prioritization. Teachers who find that a full
discussion of this issue does not muster enough priority could
assign it as a problem, or just quote Eqs. (15) or (16), for the
sake of creating the correct perceptions.
References
1. Joe Meyer, “Ladder physics,” Phys. Teach. 26, 532–535 (Nov.
1988).
2. Mario Belloni, “A simple demonstration for the static ladder
problem,” Phys. Teach. 46, 503–504 (Nov. 2008).
3. Kenneth S. Mendelson, “Statics of a ladder leaning against a
rough wall,” Am. J. Phys. 63 (2), 148–150 (Feb. 1995).
4. Alejandro G. Gonzalez and Julio Gratton, “Reaction forces on a
ladder leaning on a rough wall,” Am. J. Phys. 64 (8), 1001–1005
(Aug. 1996).
5. If a person of weight WP stands on a ladder at a distance of dP
from its feet, the ladder’s weight is WL, and its center of gravity
is dL from its feet, then W=WP+WL and
where W is the weight of the ladder-person system and d is the
distance of the center of gravity of the ladder-person system
from the feet of the ladder.
Yehuda Salu is a physics professor at Howard University in Washington,
DC. His current interests are in physics education and in applying neural
networks to cognition theory. He recently published the textbook Physics
for Architects.
http://www.PhysicsForArchitects.com/author.html, ysalu@howard.
edu