Newtons Laws EX 44

From pwiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search

We will consider each particle as a system (meaning that we will deal with each particle separately.) Assume that the pulley and the string are massless and that there is no friction on the pulley. Therefore, we can consider that the tension in the string is constant. Consequently, the magnitude of FT is the same for both masses.

The forces acting on m1 are FG and FT. The forces acting on m2 are FG, FN, Ff and FT. The normal force and force of friction are acting on this object because it is in contact with a surface. The direction of the kinetic friction depends on the direction of motion:

(a) The mass m1 moves down and therefore m2 moves uphill. The force of friction points down the hill. The force diagram is shown below:

TOP

The acceleration probably points uphill. We make this guess by comparing the force of gravity acting on m2 and m1. While m2 (5 kg) is partially supported by an incline while m1 (5 kg) is freely suspended. Thus, the gravitational force on m1 should have a greater impact on the motion of these objects than the gravitational force on m+2. In any case, it is evident that the acceleration of m2 is parallel to the incline and the acceleration of m1 is vertical. The diagram below shows the free body diagrams and the chosen coordinate systems for each of the two particles. In view of our guess, we will assume that the acceleration is positive.

The figure below shows these forces and free body diagrams for both particles.

TOP

Focus on the free body diagram labelled m2: The components of the forces exerted on m2 are:

Forces x-component y-component
FG 50 cos(-127°) = -30 N 50 sin(-127°) = -40 N
FN 0 FN
Ff Ff 0
FT FT 0


Note that we used g=10m/s2 in our calculations.

We deal first with the y-component:

40+0+0+FN=0

This yields FN=40 N. We apply the equation for the force of kinetic friction and get:

Ff=μKFN=(0.25)(40)=10 N

Now we write the equation for the x-component:

3010+FT+0=5a

We cannot solve this equation. First, we need to consider the other particle.

The forces exerted on m1 are FG and FT. Friction and the normal force don't enter into consideration because this object is not in contact with any surface. Its acceleration probably points downward. We have to assign the direction of axis so that our choice is consistent with the choice we have made for m2. Because of this, we orient the positive x-axis pointing downward. Refer to the free body diagram above. Note that we only need to be concerned with the components along the x-axis.

The components of the forces exerted on m1 are:

Forces x-component
FG 50 N
FT FT


We write the equation for the x-component:

50FT=5a


We have two equations in two unknowns:

50FT=5a
3010+FT=5a

Adding these equations gives

3010+50=10a

and solving for a, we get that a=1m/s2. Note that acceleration is positive, indicating that our guess was right!

Substituting this value into the first equation and solving for FT, we get FT=45 N.

(b) In this case, the block m1 moves up and so the block m2 moves down the hill. The only difference between these two cases is that the direction of the force of friction changes and in this case points up the hill. We can keep the same axis as we did before. The magnitude of friction will be the same. It will only change sign. Thus, we can write the two equations:

50FT=5a
30+10+FT=5a

Adding these equations gives

30+10+50=10a

and solving for a, we get that a=3m/s2. Note that acceleration is still positive, indicating that our guess was right! Solving the equation for the tension, we find

50FT=5(3)

FT=35 N

(c) Now, the block m1 moves up at constant velocity and so the block m2 moves down the hill at constant velocity. The acceleration of both systems is zero. We will redraw the diagrams. TOP

We can compute the components of forces exerted on m2 first:

Forces x-component y-component
FG 10m2cos(127)=6m2 10m2sin(127)=8m2
FN 0 FN
Ff Ff 0
FT FT 0


We deal first with the y-component:

8m2+0+0+FN=0

This yields FN=8m2. We apply the equation for the force of kinetic friction and get:

Ff=μKFN=(0.25)(8m2)=2m2

Now we write the equation for the x-component:

6m2+2m2+FT+0=0

We cannot solve this equation. First, we need to consider the other particle.

The components of the forces exerted on m1 are:

Forces x-component
FG 60 N
FT FT


We write the equation for the x-component:

60FT=0

The last equation yields FT=60 N.

Substituting FT into the equation that we had before for the x-components of forces acting on m1, we obtain

6m2+2m2+60+0=0

Solving for m2 we get that m2=15 kg.