Understanding the Relationship between Tension, Teeth, and Force

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around a problem involving tension in an elastic cord connected to teeth, specifically focusing on the force applied to a front tooth. The original poster expresses confusion regarding the relationship between tension and the resulting force, indicating a struggle with the underlying physics concepts.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Problem interpretation

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the need to create a force diagram and resolve the tension into components. There is mention of summing the components to find the resulting force, but the original poster indicates difficulty in applying this approach effectively.

Discussion Status

The discussion includes attempts to clarify the problem setup and explore different methods to analyze the forces involved. While some guidance has been offered regarding force diagrams and component resolution, the original poster has expressed frustration and uncertainty about their attempts. There is a notable lack of consensus on the correct approach, as the original poster continues to seek assistance.

Contextual Notes

The original poster is constrained by a limited number of attempts on an online assignment, which adds pressure to resolve the problem accurately.

lovelockdown
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Tension, Teeth, and Force?

The drawing below shows an elastic cord attached to two back teeth and stretched across a front tooth. The purpose of this arrangement is to apply a force to the front tooth. (The figure has been simplified by running the cord straight from the front tooth to the back teeth.) If the tension in the cord is 1.3 N, what are the magnitude and direction of the force applied to the front tooth?

fig-047.gif


I'm completely stumped, I've tried every equation I know of. I'm sure the answer is obvious but right now I think I'm thinking too hard.
Help please? :cry:
 
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lovelockdown said:
The drawing below shows an elastic cord attached to two back teeth and stretched across a front tooth. The purpose of this arrangement is to apply a force to the front tooth. (The figure has been simplified by running the cord straight from the front tooth to the back teeth.) If the tension in the cord is 1.3 N, what are the magnitude and direction of the force applied to the front tooth?

fig-047.gif


I'm completely stumped, I've tried every equation I know of. I'm sure the answer is obvious but right now I think I'm thinking too hard.
Help please? :cry:

Welcome to PF.

You have a drawing, but make a force diagram and resolve the tension with respect to the components of each side. Then add up the x and add up the y components. Whatever they add to is the resulting force.
 


I've drawn out roughly four or five and none of them seem to be working. I only have 3 attempts left on this problem (It's an online assignment). Any tips?
 


I GOT IT! Finally! Thanks for your time! =)
 

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