"Professor Povey's Perplexing Problems", written by Thomas Povey, is a great book with many intriguing and challenging maths and physics problems. Here, I upload my solution to some of the problems in the book.
This problem is from chapter 3: statics. Statics deals with the necessary conditions for a system to be in equilibrium, which in most cases directly corresponds to a condition whereby the net force and the net torque (or moment) about the center of mass of an object is equal to zero; i.e. no net force and no torque acts upon an object's center of mass. This particular problem deals with a similar situation to the previous question (link), but rather considering the situation whereby people are pulling the obelisk from a tilted to a vertical position, the problem considers the situation where people are pulling the obelisk from a vertical position. The problem specifically asks for the optimization of the situation such that minimum force is required to pull the obelisk down.
Bibliography (Only the question is from the book; the solution is done by myself and checked if it matches Povey's solution in the book)
Povey, T. (2015). Professor Povey's perplexing problems: Pre-university physics and maths puzzles with solutions. London: Oneworld Publications.
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