Question

A wire is suspended from the ceiling and stretched under the action of weight F suspended from its other end. The force exerted by the ceiling on it is equal and opposite to the weight.
A. Tensile stress at any cross section A of the wire `F/A`
B. Tensile stress at any cross section is zero
C. Tensile stress at any cross section A of the wire
D. Tension at any cross section A of the wire is 2F

Answer 1

Correct Answer - A
When a wire is suspended from the ceiling and stretched under the action of a weight (F) suspended from its other end, the force exeted by the ceiling on it is equal and opposite to the weight. However, the tension at any cross section A of the wire is just F and not 2F. Hence, tensile stress which is equal to the tension per unit area is equal to `(F)/(A)`.