Table held up by buckets resting on it.

[CJ-95GT]

Eh, why not?

If the table weighs 10 lbs and each bucket weighs 20 lbs, then how much force does each bucket put on the table?

My first thought is a combined force of no more than the weight of the table which is 10 lbs?

if it was trying to float off of the ground and the weight of the buckets were preventing that, I would say it's being held down by the buckets...

as the weight of the buckets is overcoming the gravity trying to hold it to the ground, I'd say the buckets are holding it up

As someone who has to install shit like this, often, here is my take:

The buckets are having to overcome the weight of the wood, rope, and hooks prior to the ceiling. Without knowing the weight, I'm not going to postulate the equation. However, it's safe to assume that the buckets are applying a miniscule amount more downward force to keep the buckets and wood in contact. The downward force implies that the buckets are holding the wood down.

Think of it another way. If the wood had four bucket sized holes in it, the buckets would pass through and the wood would continue going up to the ceiling.

gravity is holding it down

[YALE]

The buckets weigh more than the rest, but they interfere with the board, so it can't go past them. If the amount of rope available is less than what would let them touch the ground, they're just going to find their own level until all of the slack is out of the rope. What's so hard to understand?

[Baron Von Crowder]

[CWO]

lol

[Strychnine]

It's a static system, and it always will as long as the combined weight of the buckets > the weight of the table (As long as the weight of the 4 buckets plus the table doesn't overcome what the string can support... or the buckets more than the wood can support... or...) - so why doesn't it just read "Table and buckets held up by each other" As long as it's static the only thing you really need to worry about is the tension in the strings.

If you want to get really technical isn't it all "held up" by the pulleys in the ceiling.




What if the buckets are empty and just screwed to the table?

[Big A]

I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but my $0.02 is that each bucket is exerting it's own weight minus 1/4 that of of table, and then a smidge less than that to account for the minimal friction in the pulley.

I would be curious to know exactly what the scales would say should you put one under each bucket.

[tribaltalon]

i would say the rope is holding the buckets and the table up. btw fresh water weighs 8.34 lbs/gal if anybody wants to get real stupid and try and figure out exactly what everything weighs. i love how people try to complicate the shit out of a simple thing.

[KBScobravert]

I am fucking ashamed. No one has bothered to ask how long is the rope? Without that information all y'alls hypothesis are irrelevant .

[Strychnine]

i would say the rope is holding the buckets and the table up. btw fresh water weighs 8.34 lbs/gal if anybody wants to get real stupid and try and figure out exactly what everything weighs. i love how people try to complicate the shit out of a simple thing.

How do you know it's water in the buckets?

[Darren M]

Maybe there's a cat in each one. Are they dead?

[line-em-up]

The buckets weigh more than the rest, but they interfere with the board, so it can't go past them. If the amount of rope available is less than what would let them touch the ground, they're just going to find their own level until all of the slack is out of the rope. What's so hard to understand?

1+1=2 is simple to understand, yet there is still a mathematical equation for it. I am looking for the equation for the problem. :-)

[Baron Von Crowder]

Maybe there's a cat in each one. Are they dead?

They are both alive and dead, I think.

[YALE]

1+1=2 is simple to understand, yet there is still a mathematical equation for it. I am looking for the equation for the problem. :-)

Newton's laws of motion and universal gravitation ought to have you covered.

[diablo rojo]

I doubt they would use water since evaporation would come into play. If I was the artist and wanted the look of water with more control over the variables, I'd use lucite.

[Big A]

Maybe they are just really heavy buckets, on a balsa wood table.