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While Sir Isaac Newton pondered the falling apple, he might as well have considered the falling climber when he was devising his laws of motion on bodies.
Newton's Second Law: F=ma (click to check out force specifics)
The rate of a person's acceleration is directly proportional to the force that is applied. In a free fall our acceleration is the constant gravitational acceleration of 9.81m/s2 or 32.2ft/s2. A person's body will continue to accelerate until it reaches its terminal velocity (Vt=[2mg/pACd]½ ). Terminal velocity is where the wind drag balances the gravitational pull.
Newton's Third Law: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
A simple example is when we are standing on the ground, it pushes us with a force that is equal and opposite to our weight. Similarly when climbing the feet holds and hand holds are supporting a force that is equal to our weight. When a climbers is in a fall the rope creates a force in order to catch us, which is called an impact force. The anchor at the top also provides a force equal to the force of the climber and the belayer combined.
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