Harry K wrote:
"Greg O" wrote in message ...
"The Other Harry" wrote in message
...

The question was (and is), what happens to the load?

If the entire pot arrangement weighs 40 pounds, does half
of that load go to the top hook and half of it go to the
anchor hook?

--
Harry

I am assuming you have a rope attached to the pot, that runs up to a hook or
pulley attached to the ceiling,, then back down to an cleat.
If the pot weighs 40 lbs, the top hook in the ceiling, (or window frame,
whatever!) with the pulley will be carrying 80 lbs. The tension, (weight)
felt by the rope at the cleat will be 40 lbs.
Greg

Wrong. The tension on both sides will be equal (20 lbs) and the top
hook will feel 40lbs. There is nothing being added to the 40 lbs to
increase it to 80. I think you have confused the effect of a pulley
which, when rigged right, will cut the lifting force by 1/2.

--------40----top-------------
/\
/ \
20/ \20
/ \
load/40 \anchor
------------bottom-------

--------------------top--------------
\anchor /anchor or pulley
\ /
\20 /20
\ /
\ /
\/
40
load with pulley
--------------------bottom----------

Look at you're top picture again. How is a 40lb pot supported by a single
rope with only 20lb of tension in it? A: it's not supported at all, and
behaves like an unsupported 20lb weight.


This is what the situation really looks like:
--------80----top-------------
|\
| \
40| \40
| \
load|40 \anchor
------------bottom-------

This way, if you look just at the load, you see a 40 lb weight balanced by
a 40lb tension in the rope.

Now, your diagram was interpreted as a rope going up through a hook and
then back down to the load, then you'd be closer to right like this:
--------40----top-------------
/\
/ \
20/ \20
/ \
/load 40 \
------------bottom-------

Where now you don't have a seperate anchor, and the load is being
supported by two ropes.



John
--
Remove the dead poet to e-mail, tho CC'd posts are unwelcome.
Ask me about joining the NRA.