Question

What exactly is the "Tension force" in a pulley problem? I don't really understand what it's doing...

Answer 1

when you pull on a rope, the force you supply is called "tension"

Answer 2

If you have a pulley (neglect mass and friction) with a string connecting two different masses accelerating in a certain direction, why is it that the tension forces on both masses is pointed in the same direction?

Answer 3

tension is a restoring force in the rope which has the same value throughout the rope and every point tension is opposite to the applied force

Answer 4

opposite? then the object being pulled would not go in the direction it is being pulled?

Answer 5

because tension is not always equal to the applied force.....

Answer 6

so by that logic if the force applied exceeds the max tension force of the string, the string would break?

Answer 7

@Deep
Assuming there is no friction then the tension IS always equal tot the applied force (otherwise the rope would move due to unbalanced force)
The tension can be considered to act in BOTH directions.

It Pulls DOWN on the 'solid' anchor
It pulls UP on both sides of the lower pulley
It pulls DOWN on both sides of the upper pulley (Which therefore need 2T reaction force upwards to hold it)
It is equal to T along the whole length (assuming no friction)

Answer 8

@Imbsbu
Of course the rope will break if it exceeds it's load capacity.

The reason you can lift more with a pulley is because the load is 'shared' between all the vertical runs of the rope.