Final answer:
The mechanical advantage of a pulley system is found by counting the number of rope segments supporting the load, with the mechanical advantage being approximately the number of ropes.
Step-by-step explanation:
The mechanical advantage of a pulley system is determined by counting the number of rope segments supporting the load. This is also known as the Ideal Mechanical Advantage (IMA). In a pulley system that is nearly 100% efficient and frictionless, if a 200N load requires an effort force of 52N, the mechanical advantage (MA) can be calculated by dividing the load by the effort (200N/52N), which equals approximately 3.85.
This indicates that the actual mechanical advantage is close to 4, corresponding to option d, 4 ropes are required because the actual mechanical advantage is 3.80. This is because each segment of the rope supports an equal share of the load, and the total lifting force exerted is the tension in one rope multiplies by the number of ropes.