Question

Harry the painter swings year after year from his bosun's chair. His weight is 760 N and the rope, unknown to him, has a breaking point of 430 N. Why doesn't the rope break when he is supported as shown at the left above? To answer this, find the tension in the rope. Answer in units of N.

Answer 1

The tension in the rope supporting Harry the painter would be equal to the weight of the painter, 760 N, since there is no acceleration and the system is in static equilibrium.

Step-by-step explanation:

The scenario described involves the physics concept of tension in ropes or cables. Specifically, it requires an understanding of static equilibrium and the forces acting on suspended bodies. To answer the question presented, we focus on the scenario where Harry the painter of 760 N is supported by a rope.

We do not have additional information such as the angle of inclination or a pulley system, so with the information provided, we would have to assume that there is a direct vertical lift on the rope.

In this instance, the tension in the rope would be directly equal to the weight of the supported mass according to Newton's second law since there is no acceleration (Fnet = T - W = 0, which implies T = W). Hence, the tension in the rope is 760 N.