In a conical pendulum, if the angle of the string with the vertical is increased, what happens to the horizontal component of the tension?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
In a conical pendulum, if the angle of the string with the vertical is increased, what happens to the horizontal component of the tension?
Increases
Decreases
Remains the same
Becomes zero
As the angle increases, the horizontal component of tension increases to provide the necessary centripetal force.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
1 item
Q
Q: In a conical pendulum, if the angle of the string with the vertical is increased, what happens to the horizontal component of the tension?
Solution: As the angle increases, the horizontal component of tension increases to provide the necessary centripetal force.
Steps: 7
Step 1: Understand what a conical pendulum is. It is a pendulum that swings in a circular motion while the string traces out a cone shape.
Step 2: Identify the forces acting on the pendulum. The main forces are tension in the string and gravity.
Step 3: Recognize that the tension in the string has two components: a vertical component (which balances the weight) and a horizontal component (which provides centripetal force).
Step 4: Note that as the angle of the string with the vertical increases, the string becomes more horizontal.
Step 5: Understand that when the angle increases, the vertical component of tension decreases because it has to balance the weight of the pendulum bob.
Step 6: Realize that to maintain circular motion, the horizontal component of tension must increase to provide the necessary centripetal force.
Step 7: Conclude that as the angle increases, the horizontal component of tension increases.
