Tension

Tension is a force associated with the pulling of an object such as a rope, cable, or chain. It is very similar to elastic potential energy. Once an object is stretched out and put under tension it will naturally return to its relaxed length as soon as it is free of this force. Tension inside of a rope or similar object is modeled by atoms being slightly stretched apart as if connected by tiny "springs". Pulling on the ends of the rope stretches these "springs" ever so slightly, and the tension force is the net "spring force" exerted by the billions of microscopic springs. In reality there are no springs between the atoms but rather molecular bonds. The underlying cause for these bonds and therefore tension is the electromagnetic force.

Figure 1. Tension is created by the men pulling the rope, and is often represented by the symbol T.

For Further Reading

• Force
• Elastic potential energy
• Electromagnetic force
• Elasticity
• Elasticity vs plasticity
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