Question

Three boys of equal strength try to break a rope (and fail) by tying one end to a fence post and tugging on the other end. Three additional boys (about the same strength as the others) come along and offer their assistance. Which of the following will maximize the tension in the rope?
A. It does not matter: the rope sustains the same tension in both cases.
B. Untie the rope from the post and have three boys tug on one end and the remaining three on the other (like a tug- of-war)
C. Keep one end of the rope tied to the post and have all six boys tug on the other end.

Answer 1

The best choice would be C. Keep one end of the rope tied to the post and have all six boys tug on the other end.

Reason:

A is not correct since in the first case which is B, untying the rope from the post and have 3 boys on each end of it tug, will provide equal or a near equal amount of tension since the boys are all within the same strength, however there can be variables that will affect the tension.

That means B would be true according to A, and then for C, having all six boys pull on the other end of the rope would provide greater tension, since if 3 boys of the same strength range can't break the rope when its tied to the fence, we add the other 3 boys of the same strength.

However, if 3 boys are on each end of the rope and of the same strength then the rope will not break since there is an equal amount of net force exerted on the rope.

We know that the fence can withstand the strength of 3 boys but if we add the other 3 boys then it could provide us with a different outcome.

3B < F

3B(2) ≥ F

So, therefore, our best choice would be C since A and B is incorrect.