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Two wires of known breaking stress holding masses and a pan: maximum mass that can be put in the pan

The same question, asked 2 times: 2021 Paper 21*, 5 Apr 2026 S1. Every wording below, oldest first.

Try each one first, then open its answer.

  1. Question 1

    2021 Paper 21

    25
    Wires W1W_{1} and W2W_{2} are made of same material having the breaking stress of 1.25×109 N/m21.25 \times10^{9}\text{ }N/m^{2}. W1W_{1} and W2W_{2} have cross-sectional area of 8×10−7 m28 \times10^{- 7}{\text{ }m}^{2} and 4×10−7 m24 \times10^{- 7}{\text{ }m}^{2}, respectively. Masses of 20 kg20\text{ }kg and 10 kg10\text{ }kg hang from them as shown in the figure. The maximum mass that can be placed in the pan without breaking the wires is ____\_\_\_\_ kg. (Use g=10 m/s2g = 10\text{ }m/s^{2} )

  2. Question 2

    5 Apr 2026 S1

    18
    Two wires as shown in the figure below, made of steel and have breaking stress of 12×108 N/m212 \times10^{8}\text{ }N/m^{2}. Area of cross-section of upper wire is 0.008 cm20.008{\text{ }cm}^{2} and of lower wire is 0.004 cm20.004{\text{ }cm}^{2}. The maximum mass that can be added to pan without breaking any wire is ____\_\_\_\_ kg. (Take g=10 m/s2g = 10\text{ }m/s^{2}.)

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