When a 125-kg piece of equipment is hung from a steel wire of diameter 6.00 mm,it stretches the wire by 4.00 mm.If instead the wire had a diameter of 3.00 mm,but all else were the same,by what distance would the same equipment stretch the wire?
A)16.0 mm
B)8.00 mm
C)4.00 mm
D)2.00 mm
E)1.00 mm

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The stretching of the wire is inversely proportional to the cross-sectional area, which is proportional to the square of the diameter. Halving the diameter (from 6.00 mm to 3.00 mm) reduces the area by a factor of 4, thus increasing the stretch by the same factor. Therefore, the stretch increases from 4.00 mm to 16.00 mm.

When a 125-Kg Piece of Equipment Is Hung from a Steel