Physics · Force and inertia, Newton's first law of motion, momentum, Newton's second Law of motion, impulse, Newton's third Law of motion

A man is pulling a rope attached to a block on a smooth horizontal table. The te

A man is pulling a rope attached to a block on a smooth horizontal table. The tension in the rope will be the same at all points.

  • A. If and only if the rope is not accelerated
  • B. If and only if the rope is massless
  • C. If either the rope is not accelerated or is massless
  • D. always

Step-by-step solution

For tension to be the same at all points, there must be no net force on any segment of the rope. This occurs if the rope is massless (its inertia is zero) or if it is not accelerated (so net force is zero even if it has mass). If the rope has mass and is accelerating, the tension varies because different segments have different net forces.
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