Academic Integrity: tutoring, explanations, and feedback — we don’t complete graded work or submit on a student’s behalf.

A 0.58-kg sheet hangs from a massless clothesline . The clothesline on either si

ID: 1292998 • Letter: A

Question

A 0.58-kg sheet hangs from a massless clothesline . The clothesline on either side of the sheet makes an angle of 3.5? with the horizontal.

Calculate the tension in the clothesline on either side of the sheet.

Part b

Why is the tension so much greater than the weight of the sheet?

Choose one

Only the vertical components of the tension are supporting the sheet, and since the tension makes small angle with the horizontal, the tension has to be large to have a large enough vertical component to hold the sheet.

Only the horizontal components of the tension are supporting the sheet, and since the tension makes small angle with the vertical, the tension has to be large to have a large enough horizontal component to hold the sheet.

Only the vertical components of the tension are supporting the sheet, and since the tension makes small angle with the horizontal, the tension has to be large to have a large enough vertical component to hold the sheet.

Only the vertical components of the tension are supporting the sheet, and since the tension makes small angle with the vertical, the tension has to be large to have a large enough horizontal component to hold the sheet. None of the above.

Explanation / Answer



this means that the vertical component of tension in the 2 ropes together equals the weight of the sheet

the weight of the sheet = mg = 0.58g x 9.8m/s/s=5.68N

if T is the tension in each rope, then basic trig definitions tell you that sin(3.5)=Tvertical/T

so that we have Tvertical = T sin 3.5, and that 2Tvertical = 5.68N

therefore, we have

2Tvertical =5.68N
2Tsin(3.5)=5.68=> T=46.52N

the tension in each rope is 46.52 N

b.ans d.Intuitively, the reason is that the rope is wasting most of its effort fighting itself, pulling hard left and right, and only the little bit pulling upward is helping, so the force has to be huge for the little bit to balance the weigh