Chapter 12: Q50P (page 350)
The Figure represents an insect caught at the midpoint of a spider-web thread. The thread breaks under a stress of and a strain of . Initially, it was horizontal and had a length of and a cross-sectional area of . As the thread was stretched under the weight of the insect, its volume remained constant. If the weight of the insect puts the thread on the verge of breaking, what is the insect鈥檚 mass? (A spider鈥檚 web is built to break if a potentially harmful insect, such as a bumble bee, becomes snared in the web.)

Short Answer
The insect鈥檚 mass, if the weight of the insect puts the spider鈥檚 web on the verge of breaking, is


