Question
A 20 kg floodlight in a park is supported at an end of a horizontal bean of negligible mass that is hinged to a pole as shown below. A cable at an angle of 30.0 degrees with the beamhelps supports the light. Consider the equilibrium of the beam, drawing the free-body diagram of that object. Calculate torques about an axis at the hinge at the left-hand end. Discover -
(a) Tension in cable,
(b) Horizontal component of the force exerted by the pole on the beam, and
(c) Vertical component of this force. Now solve the same problem from the same free-body diagram by computing torques around the junction between the cable and the beam at the right-hand end of the beam. Find out.
(d) Vertical component of the force exerted by the pole on the beam
(e) Tension in the cable, and
(f) Horizontal components of the force exerted by the pole on the beam
(g) Evaluate the solution to parts (a) through (c) with the solution to parts (d) through (f). Is either solution more accurate?