Does acceleration cause a string to stretch?

AI Thread Summary
Acceleration does cause a string to stretch more than when at rest, as demonstrated by the behavior of a pendulum. When a pendulum bob swings, the tension in the wire increases at the bottom of the swing due to the combined effects of gravitational force and centripetal force. The tension at the bottom is greater than at the top, where the bob is at rest, because the bob's motion generates additional forces. An experiment with a pendulum made from elastic shows that the elastic stretches more when the weight is swinging compared to when it is simply hanging vertically. This illustrates the impact of acceleration on the stretching of the supporting string.
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if you have a pendulum with a 10kg bob at rest, it causes a stretch in the wire supporting it, but if that same bob were to be let go at a certain angle from the vertical, would would the wire stretch more as the bob reaches the bottom of its swing where the speed is the greatest?

in order words

stretch of wire with acceleration > stretch of wire when at rest?
 
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i would say so. Consider someone on a swing as they go higher and higher the rope actually slackens and then at midswing its taunt again.
 
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so what other forces would be acting on the bob at the bottom of the swing apart from mg?

by what factor would the tension change at the bottom as compared to the top of the swing?
 
shouldn't the tension in the string at the bottom of the swing be the same as if it were at rest, and then it be less when it higher?
 
since the bob is moving very fast at midswing it wants to go straight ahead but the string is preventing that so there's a component of centripetal force right.
 
Do an experiment. Make a pendulum by tying a weight to the end of a piece of elastic. Hang the pendulum above a table, so the weight is just touching the table. Then start it swinging from a horizontal position, and be careful that you are not stretching the elastic when you let the weight go.

The weight will hit the table, showing that the elastic has stretched more than when it was hanging vertically but not swinging.
 
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