A flexible chain of length L is suspended between two poles of equal height separated by a distance 2M (Figure 10). By Newton’s laws, the chain describes a curve (called a catenary) with equation y = a cosh(x/a) + C. The constant C is arbitrary and a is the number such that L = 2a sinh(M/a). The sag s is the vertical distance from the highest to the lowest point on the chain.

Suppose that L = 120 and M = 50. Experiment with your calculator to find an approximate value of a satisfying L = 2a sinh(M/a) (for greater accuracy, use Newton’s method or a computer algebra system).

Transcribed Image Text:

y 1 1_ 2 M y = a cosh(x/a) S 11 -x