Chapter 12, Problem 12P

In Fig. 12-30, trying to gel his car out of mud, a man ties one end of a rope around the front bumper and the other end tightly around a utility pole 18 m away. He then pushes sideways on the rope at its midpoint with a force of 550 N, displacing the center of the rope 0.30 m, but the car barely moves. What is the magnitude of the force on the car from the rope? (The rope stretches somewhat.)

Figure 12-30 Problem 12.