Two identical masses are suspended from a fixed point using three identical strings, as seen in the photograph below. The top string, connected to the fixed support, holds the higher mass; the middle string connects the higher mass to the lower mass; and the lower string connects the lower mass to a metal rod that can be grasped in order to pull downward on the lower string.
When the rod is pulled downward, exerting a force on the lower string, which of the three strings will break?
The three possibilities are that, when the lower string is pulled downward:
Click here for Answer #42 after December 11, 2000.
