The Physics of Ornament Balls

As promised, here's another Canada-related Physics blog : ). On our first day, predictably, we went to the Montreal Underground Mall (underground because the mall is lined by the city's underground metro system, which makes shopping so much more convenient because your ride is just at close range). In line with the Christmas season spirit, the mall was decorated with a myriad of ornaments, Christmas trees, and other Christmas-related decors. In the picture below, a number of GIANT hanging ornament balls adorned the mall's ceiling and naturally, of course, I thought: PHYSICS!! (because even in vacation, Physics is always in my mind, Doc).

In the picture, there are different-sized ornament balls. Thus, each ball has a different value of weight mg. Because there is no movement in either the vertical or horizontal direction, the tension force T (string) and the ball's mg is equivalent. Therefore, since each ball's mg is different, the tensions on the string is different. Furthermore, my brother jokingly asked my cousins (who took us shopping that day) if we could jump and ride on the ornament balls and immediately, I was reminded of another physics concept. If my brother chose to do such a dangerous stunt, he would crash down from the 4th floor (where we were) all the way down to the 3rd floor because by jumping on the ball, my brother adds his weight mg2 to the ball's mg. Thus, the tension force T would have to increase in order to account for the increase in weight. Because the tension force T is smaller, Josh (my brother) would move in the vertical direction (downward) at 9.8 m/s^2.