Tension, in general, refers to the force transmitted when a cable, rope, wire, or string is tethered by opposing forces. The cable is oriented in one direction along its length and pulls equally on objects at either end.
The term tension can also refer to the action-reaction forces that affect each end of the two elements. To put it another way, tension is the inverse of compression.
When physical objects come into contact, they are forced to exert some force on each other. Each of these contact forces will be given a unique name based on the type of object. When cables, chains, or ropes are pulled, they apply tension to objects.
Since ropes and cables are efficient at transferring force, they can be used to transfer force over a specified distance. As ropes cannot effectively push, pulling force is generated by tension. When a rope is pushed, it becomes slack and loses tension, and it can no longer pull in its original position.
For suspended objects in equilibrium, the tension is equal to the gravitational acceleration of the object.