Originally Posted by
FBinNY
Now if one person suddenly relaxes his pull what happens? The goat will be pulled in the opposite direction by a force exactly equal to that reduction in force by that person. it's a simple balancing process, reducing the force in one direction is functionally equal to increasing the force in the opposite.
Yes, but then someone comes along and says that the people who reduced their force '
pushed the goat,' as though you can ignore the other forces. The outcome is the same (the goat moves) but it is misleading wordplay. Just like comments like 'the bottom spokes are exclusively what hold up the hub because of their reduction in tension' are misleading. One has to account for all the forces, thus:
Originally Posted by
desconhecido
It's not correct to say that the load is supported by spokes which see an increase in tension. What is correct is that when a load is added to the hub it is supported by the net change in tension of all the spokes.
And as you say,
Originally Posted by
FBinNY
it isn't the bottom spokes that hold the hub up, nor is it hanging from the top spokes.