Solving the Problem: Calculating the Tension in a Sagging Wire

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on calculating the tension in a sagging wire caused by a bird landing on it. The scenario involves two telephone poles spaced 50.5 meters apart, with a 1.40 kg bird causing a sag of 0.203 meters. The initial calculation for tension yielded 1708.35 N, but the user realized the error stemmed from neglecting the angles involved in the problem. Correctly accounting for these angles is crucial for accurate tension calculations in physics problems involving sagging wires.

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Ok this is the problem

The distance between two telephone poles is 50.5 m. When a 1.40 kg bird lands on the telephone wire midway between the poles, the wire sags 0.203 m. How much tension does the bird produce in the wire?

This is what I did

I divided 50.5/2 = 25.25m (to get length of one leg)
The other leg is = .203 m

So, Length of Hypotenuse = 25.2508

Weight of the bird = (9.81 * 1.40) = 13.734 N


Now to solve the problem I did the following


(Weight of the bird/ the distance of the wire sagged) * the hypotenuse

To get the tension


so, the tension is = 1708.35 N

But this is not the right answer, so can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong?
 
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Yep got it.. I don't know why I was ignoring the angles.

Thx.
 

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