Answer
(a) greater than
(b) $1.88KN$
Work Step by Step
(a) The cable not only supports the weight of the men but also lifts them up with constant acceleration, hence the tension in the cable is greater than the combined weight of the men.
(b) The tension in the cable can be determined as follows:
$\Sigma F_y=T-mg=ma$
This can be rearranged as:
$T=m(a+g)$
We plug in the known values to obtain:
$T=(172)(1.10+9.81)$
$T=1880N=1.88KN$
