Question

A sparrow flying in air sits on a stretched telegraph wire if the weight of the sparrow is $W$ which of the following is true about the tension $T$ produced in in the wire?

• A. $T=W$
• B. $T<W$
• C. $T=0$
• D. $T>W$

Answer 1

The correct option is D $T>W$

From figure we can conclude

$2T\cos \theta =W$ where W= weight of the bird.

Now considering the component$\cos \theta$ to be very small thus neglecting it we get

$T=\frac{W}{2}$

Thus from above equation we can conclude that the maximum tension of the wire will be equal to $\frac{1}{2}W$ but cannot

exceed it, if it exceeds the found value the wire break.

Thus $T>W$