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Re: Free Body Diagram

It would be difficult to argue that there could be any acceleration
along the ropes length under ANY circumstances (without stretching)
so I would start by accepting THAT answer.

No vertical acceleration at the top of the swing?
Just like there is no acceleration at the top of ANY vertical
trajectory? (NOT!)



At 9:26 PM -0500 11/19/02, David Abineri wrote:

If one then considers a coordinate system imposed at the end of the
rope, one might argue that Tcos(theta) = mg in order that there is no
vertical acceleration.

On the other hand, if one uses a rotated coordinate system (with T along
the y axis), one could argue that T=mgcos(theta) in order that there no
acceleration along the direction of the rope.

Only one of these points of view can be correct and I am searching for
the words that my high school class will understand and will convince
them (and me) why one is correct and the other incorrect.

This posting is the position of the writer, not that of SUNY-BSC, NAU or the AAPT.