Two children wish to break a string. Are they more likely to succeed if each takes one end of the string and they pull against each other, or if they tie one end of the string to a tree and both pull on the free end? Why?
I answered this one yesterday.
You get the same tension by pulling with a force with one end tied to something, as you would with two people pulling at each end with the same force.
Whether it breaks or not depends upon the tension in the string, not how many people are pulling on either end.
Reason? Newton's Third law.
2 answers
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This means that when two people pull on either end of the string, the tension in the string is the same as if one end was tied to something and the other end was pulled.
"You get the same tension by pulling with a force with one end tied to something, as you would with two people pulling at each end with the same force."
" Whether it breaks or not depends upon the tension in the string, not how many people are pulling on either end."
|
my addition:V
In this case, it would be more likely to break the string if one side of the string is tied up to the tree, this is because the tree exerts the same amount of force on its side as the boys would on the other, resulting in more tension.
"Reason? Newton's Third law."
" Whether it breaks or not depends upon the tension in the string, not how many people are pulling on either end."
|
my addition:V
In this case, it would be more likely to break the string if one side of the string is tied up to the tree, this is because the tree exerts the same amount of force on its side as the boys would on the other, resulting in more tension.
"Reason? Newton's Third law."
1 answer