- #1
student34
- 639
- 21
So I am thinking about a question I had years ago in physics (this is just a question, not for homework). The question was to find the tension on a string that comes out from a vertical wall as a 2kg ball hangs from it at an angle, say 30o, from the wall.
Just imagine a basketball hanging by a string that hangs at a 30 degree angle because of its radius as it pushes outwards against the wall.
The answer was that the string has the hypotenuse (resultant) of the force triangle, therefore it would be greater than the 2kg*g.
But now I am wondering where that horizontal component of force comes from.
Imagine being in space and the ball is in the same position, only there is no forces acting on the string. As it approaches earth, the tension starts to increase. But the force is only vertical, yet the ball and the wall will want to start pushing against each other. What is it about the string that causes the horizontal component of force?
Just imagine a basketball hanging by a string that hangs at a 30 degree angle because of its radius as it pushes outwards against the wall.
The answer was that the string has the hypotenuse (resultant) of the force triangle, therefore it would be greater than the 2kg*g.
But now I am wondering where that horizontal component of force comes from.
Imagine being in space and the ball is in the same position, only there is no forces acting on the string. As it approaches earth, the tension starts to increase. But the force is only vertical, yet the ball and the wall will want to start pushing against each other. What is it about the string that causes the horizontal component of force?
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