What happens to the tension on the sling legs as the sling-to-load angle decreases?

• A. It increases
• B. It decreases
• C. It stays the same
• D. It becomes zero

Answer: (A)

The key idea is how sling tension depends on the angle the sling legs make with the load surface. If the two slings share the load, the vertical component of each sling’s tension must add up to the weight. If each leg makes an angle theta with the horizontal, the vertical component is T sin(theta). With two legs, 2 T sin(theta) = W, so T = W / (2 sin(theta)). As the sling-to-load angle decreases, sin(theta) decreases, which increases T. So the tension in each sling leg rises as the angle gets smaller.