A tightrope walker walks across a 30.0 m long wire tied between two poles.The center of the wire is displaced vertically downward by 1.0 m when he is halfway across.If the tension in both halves of the wire at this point is 6294 N,what is the mass of the tightrope walker? Neglect the mass of the wire.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The tension in the wire creates two equal and opposite forces. At the midpoint, the vertical component of the tension equals the weight of the walker. Using trigonometry, T*sin(θ) = mg, where θ is the angle of the wire with the horizontal. The angle can be found using tan(θ) = 1/15. Solving gives m ≈ 85 kg.

A Tightrope Walker Walks Across a 30