Can you hang a painting from two pegs, so that if you remove EITHER of the pegs, the painting will fall down?

....   another way would be to insert the pegs at the same height but one slightly to the left of the other.  The left one is aimed to the left, and the right one is aimed to the right, such that the outer tips are just touching.  The pegs are not pounded in very far.  Neither peg offers enough stability by itself to support the weight, but together, the 2 pegs and wall form a stable triangle.

....  or pound both pegs in at an upward angle, one steeper than the other, but such that the 2 pegs touch each other making an "X" with each other.  The wall and the part of each peg that is between the wall and the intersection of the 2 pegs forms a triangle which 'captures' the wire behind the painting (one peg is above and one is below the wire).  A heavy enough painting would cause the wire to slide down the lower peg and force the two pegs apart, but these pegs are pounded in far enough to be stable enough. 

Posted by Larry on 2005-03-30 05:45:04