This is from my geometry text...

There is a string, 200cm long, with the ends fixed 120cm apart on the roof. The tension limit of the string is 300N. A 400N weight is to be hung from some point on the string. How far from the center of the string can the weight be hung before the string breaks?



I've been working on this forever...it seems impossible. I've enlisted the help of both parents (PhD in Mining Engineering and MEng in Civil Engineering) and a really, really smart guy at the University of Toronto, nobody has been able to squeeze out a solution.

This is worth marks, due tomorrow. My hunch is that the teacher assigned the question (he made it up) without first checking the difficulty....

I thought I was missing something, but I find it odd that all the people I've gone to for help haven't come up with anything. And I'm not exactly a slouch in math either...

Still though, I need some help here...and fast.

-C