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๐Ÿงต Untitled Thread

Anonymous No. 16365448

Can a rope placed horizontally like in the pic ever be truly straight? Gravity acts on it pulling it towards the earth therefore there has to be a force which counteracts the force of gravity. I don't see which force does that job other than the tension in the rope, but that tension has to have a nonzero vertical component, and that's only possible if the rope is slightly bent downwards.

Am I being retarded here?

Anonymous No. 16365457

yeah it can never be truly straight

Anonymous No. 16365485

>>16365448
Show me a thing that's truly straight and ill show you a rope that's straighter than that.

Anonymous No. 16365496

>>16365485
well I'm as straight as one can be

Anonymous No. 16365638

You could do it in outer space.

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Anonymous No. 16366567

Why don't we do some calculations. What is F as a function of h? And then plug in h=0 and see if you can get a finite F.

Anonymous No. 16366674

>>16365448
That's easy, just pull it from both ends

Anonymous No. 16366697

>>16365448
>placed horizontally
You can pull it perfectly straight with your hands, or spanned between two cranes. Also, it will be perfectly straight if placed on a perfectly straight surface, which humans in principle can manufacture.
Every plank you buy in a home improvement store is more perfectly straight than it is convex, so if you place it on such a wooden plank, the rope will also be "perfectly" straight.
If you just lay it on the ground, as in something that is directly connected to the Earth below, it will never be totally straight, yes.

Anonymous No. 16366698

>>16366697
would a long enough rope under tension experience waves like the ocean?

Anonymous No. 16366719

>>16366674
Wouldn't the pulling force have to increase the closer it gets to a straight line?

Anonymous No. 16369491

>>16365448
why the fuck am I on /sci/ again? the rope is like the OP a faggot. it never will be straight.

Anonymous No. 16371100

>>16365448
>nonzero vertical component, and that's only possible if the rope is slightly bent downwards.
A rope with nonzero thickness can have vertical components internally, even when straight.
So in theory, it is possible.
Ignore the retards who say it isn't.

Anonymous No. 16374240

>>16365638
No you couldnt moron. Gravity acts on everything over an infinite distance it just drops off due to inv. square law.

Anonymous No. 16374808

>>16365448
>Can a rope placed horizontally like in the pic ever be truly straight?
No, it will always form into a section of a catanary curve.