Glad it's helpful.andyblues wrote:ME,thanks for clarifying what is going on with this tether approach...
The main thing here is that forces add up into a single resultant force, and that a single force (gravity) can be divided into several.
The Pythagoras theorem is a special case of such addition and it works because a single force can be triangulated into two 90° perpendicular forces where one part is a static force that encounters a counter force while not going anywhere, and the other part is a dynamic force that causes accelerated motion.
An interesting proof of the "Pythagoras theorem": https://youtu.be/SKJ_dDQu3pc?t=6