psycocoffey

Yes, I meant C. Too late to go and fix it now. Good catch

Assumptions:

  pulleys: idealized, massless, frictionless

  rope: idealized, massless, doesn't stretch

  weights: resting on ground.

It helps to visualize Weight A as being massless. In that case, there would just be extra slack in the rope, and B&C would not move until the slack was taken in.

I _think_ the article is trying to convey that asking those questions about an existing business is not helpful. I first read it as 'These are all bad questions that are never useful,' which is obviously false. But in the situation where there is an existing in depth knowledge base, they are better replaced with more topical questions.

I baulked at 'What is our goal?" since that is the first question I ask after someone requests help. But if I am expected to already be acquainted with the situation, I wouldn't ask.