I think the original mechanical analogy is due to Cohen and Horowitz: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v352/n6337/abs/352699a0.html http://www.nature.com/na

I think the original mechanical analogy is due to Cohen and Horowitz: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v352/n6337/abs/352699a0.html http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v352/n6337/abs/352699a0... In this setup, cutting the link essentially converts the two springs from being in series to parallel: http://ibin.co/2JEsCKEYRisb http://ibin.co/2JEsCKEYRisb If the central string was elastic, this would cause the weight to initially hang lower, but have no effect on the position reached after it is cut (assuming that it does not stretch so much that the other strings stop being slack). The effect would thus appear larger.