- #1
student34
- 639
- 21
Imagine a tall block of wood sitting on the ground. Then imagine a rope resting on the block with both ends dangling off both sides of the block. Then someone attaches a ball to both ends of the rope. Assume the balls are equal in mass, thus the system is in equilibrium. Now the middle of the rope is still resting on the top of the block, but the ends are now spanned out, say 45 degrees, along the sides of the block because of the radius of the balls attached to the ends of the rope that are hanging off the sides of the block, but not touching the ground. Also assume no friction anywhere.
To my amazement, my textbook has the tension force of the rope being greater than the force of gravity (the only applied force that I can find). The textbook implies a horizontal force x in addition to the vertical force of gravity y. Tension becomes (x^2 + y^2)^(1/2).
I have my first-year university physics and probably should know where the horizontal force is coming from, but I don't.
If "God" shut off the gravity, then there would be no tension, so how is the vertical force of gravity causing more force perpendicular to its vertical vector, which ultimately creates a larger force in the tension?
To my amazement, my textbook has the tension force of the rope being greater than the force of gravity (the only applied force that I can find). The textbook implies a horizontal force x in addition to the vertical force of gravity y. Tension becomes (x^2 + y^2)^(1/2).
I have my first-year university physics and probably should know where the horizontal force is coming from, but I don't.
If "God" shut off the gravity, then there would be no tension, so how is the vertical force of gravity causing more force perpendicular to its vertical vector, which ultimately creates a larger force in the tension?