In: Physics
Force Table: If the center ring were to have considerable mass, what effect would it have on the experiment?
If the central ring were to have considerable mass then there will be additional force of non-negligible magnitude acting on the ring due to gravity, acting downwards.
This will result in increase in tension in the string due to additional weight of the ring.
Below I have sketched a simple pictures for visualization.
In the figures below there are only two forces due to weights over the pulleys acting on the rings in opposite direction.
So,
Due to ring of considerable mass when we measure the tensions in the strings, the measurements will also contain the tension ( tension as shown in figures )due to weight of the ring.
It will not affect the result of the vector addition of forces.