# Tension in a wire

I found this image on one of the answers I was going through. In this picture since the man balances himself in the middle of the rope, there's equal tension throughout it. However if he would have been standing at the end there must have been unequal magnitude of tension at both the ends of the rope, if the angles would have been of different magnitude. But since it is an ideal string it must have equal tension throughout so why there's different tension in its different parts?

• Tension is only equal throughout if no force is exerted along the direction of the rope. If the man's foot exerts a frictional force on the rope, the tension changes there. – Ben51 May 1 '18 at 16:58
• The tension experienced by the rope doesn't have to be the same throughout the length of the rope. It can be different on either side of the man. What's required is that the three red force vectors add up to zero. If the man is at the exact middle of the rope, then symmetry requires that the rope tensions on either side of the man are the same. But if the man is closer to one pole than the other, the requirement that the three forces sum to zero will mean that the magnitudes of the tensions $T_L$ and $T_R$ are different. – user93237 May 1 '18 at 17:18
• But we are taught that an ideal string has constant tension throughout its length? – Physics freak May 1 '18 at 17:34
• Hang a rope or string AB freely from one end A. Tie a weight W to its midpoint M. The tension in section AM is W. the tension in section MB is zero. – sammy gerbil May 1 '18 at 23:44