Mechanics Question

[ravells]

Say you had a stationary ship in space, tied a cable to it and pulled the cable out perpendicular to the hull. If you then moved the ship forwards, would the cable remain at 90 degrees or would it be 'pulled' backwards until it was parallel with the hull?

Thanks

ravs

 

[TheEngineer]

Now, that easy

Think of the ship hanging on a large construction on good old earth, with a cable fixed on its length with some attachments in 90 degrees direction from the ships hull.
So, if you release the cable the situation is just the same as if a static ship with that cable starts to accelerate in space.

Regards,

TE

 

[atpollard]

Originally posted by ravs:
Say you had a stationary ship in space, tied a cable to it and pulled the cable out perpendicular to the hull. If you then moved the ship forwards, would the cable remain at 90 degrees or would it be 'pulled' backwards until it was parallel with the hull?

Thanks

ravs

Parallel. The cable wants to remain at rest so the ship will need to pull it behind to make it move.

 

[ravells]

Thanks both! That was my instinctive reaction but I wanted to be sure.

Ravs