- #1
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Hi everyone,
What I understand is that tension only exists if there are two forces pulling on a rope in opposite directions. What I have also read is that due to Newton's third law, the rope actually pulls back with a force equal but opposite to the two applied forces, so the forces look a bit like this:
<F---------(-->T)------(<--T)-------F>
So there are actually two opposite tension forces on the rope. Now if both the applied forces are equal (i.e. object is in equilbrium), how can we say that the tension forces have any particular direction? An example of this is in my lecture notes, on page 19, here: http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~helenj/Mechanics/PDF/mechanics01.pdf
Somehow there's a tension force away from the sled, and yet they talked about 'both ends of the string pull back with a force called tension'.
If anyone could help me out with this, I'd really appreciate it
What I understand is that tension only exists if there are two forces pulling on a rope in opposite directions. What I have also read is that due to Newton's third law, the rope actually pulls back with a force equal but opposite to the two applied forces, so the forces look a bit like this:
<F---------(-->T)------(<--T)-------F>
So there are actually two opposite tension forces on the rope. Now if both the applied forces are equal (i.e. object is in equilbrium), how can we say that the tension forces have any particular direction? An example of this is in my lecture notes, on page 19, here: http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~helenj/Mechanics/PDF/mechanics01.pdf
Somehow there's a tension force away from the sled, and yet they talked about 'both ends of the string pull back with a force called tension'.
If anyone could help me out with this, I'd really appreciate it