Concept Clarification

[Kristin]

I know that if two people are pulling on a rope with the same force, the tension in the rope is the force that one of them is pulling at because the rope is pulling back or something like that. I don't really understand how this concept works. What happens if they are pulling on the rope with different forces?

[Ouabache]

if they are pulling from opposite sides of the rope, what would you think happens if someone is pulling harder than the other?

[Kristin]

If one person pulls harder, the other person would most likely move. I would think that the tension in the rope would be the larger pull, but that doesn't really make sense either.

[Ouabache]

You are right. So in this case, there would be a net force = (stronger pull - weaker pull) in the direction of the person pulling harder.