Monkey Business III

In an ideal situation, with a massless rope, the monkey will rise at an equal rate to the bananas, until both reach the top of the pulley.

However, since the rope has some mass, the system will become unbalanced, and the monkey will descend while the bananas will rise. Only when the bananas reach the top of the pulley and stop will the monkey begin to ascend.

In which scenario does the monkey do the most climbing? Both are equal- the monkey must "climb" the entire length of the rope before he and the bananas are together at the top. Nor does the fact that the rope has mass significantly increase the amount of work he needs to do- once the rope is off balance, it will pull itself through the pulley through the force of its own weight.