Harry the painter swings year after year

from his bosun’s chair. His weight is 630N
and the rope, unknown to him, has a breaking point of 365 N.

A.) Why doesn’t the rope break when he is supported as shown at the left above? To answer this, find the tension in the rope. Answer in units of N

B.)One day Harry is painting near a flagpole, and, for a change, he ties the free end of the rope to the flagpole instead of to his chair as shown at the right. Why did Harry end up taking his vacation early? To answer this, find the tension in the rope. Answer in units of N

A.) To find the tension in the rope when Harry is supported as shown on the left, we need to consider the forces acting on the system.

There are two forces acting on Harry in this situation:
1. The downward force due to his weight, which is 630N.
2. The upward force exerted by the tension in the rope.

For the rope not to break, the tension in the rope must be equal to or greater than Harry's weight.

Therefore, the tension in the rope is 630N or greater.

B.) When Harry ties the free end of the rope to the flagpole as shown on the right, the situation changes. Now, the rope is not supporting Harry's weight directly.

There are two forces acting on the system:
1. The downward force due to Harry's weight, which is still 630N.
2. The tension in the rope, which is now pulling horizontally because of the attachment to the flagpole.

Since the rope is pulling horizontally, it cannot provide any vertical support to balance Harry's weight. As a result, the tension in the rope cannot counteract Harry's weight, causing the rope to break.

In this case, the tension in the rope is still 630N, but it is ineffective in supporting Harry's weight due to its horizontal direction. So, the rope breaks, and Harry ends up taking his vacation early.