Answer:
Shows an atwood machine that consists of two blocks (of masses m1 and m2) tied together with a massless rope that passes over a fixed, perfect (massless and frictionless) pulley. in this problem you'll investigate some special cases where physical variables describing the atwood machine take on limiting values. often, examining special cases will simplify a problem, so that the solution may be found from inspection or from the results of a problem you've already seen. for all parts of this problem, take upward to be the positive direction and take the gravitational constant, g, to be positive.
part a consider the case where m1 and m2 are both nonzero, and m2> m1. let t1 be the magnitude of the tension in the rope connected to the block of mass m1, and let t2 be the magnitude of the tension in the rope connected to the block of mass m2. which of the following statements is true?
consider the case where and are both nonzero, and . let be the magnitude of the tension in the rope connected to the block of mass , and let be the magnitude of the tension in the rope connected to the block of mass . which of the following statements is true?
a) t1 is always equal to t2.
b) t2 is greater than t1 by an amount independent of velocity.
c) t2 is greater than t1 but the difference decreases as the blocks increase in velocity.
d) there is not enough information to determine the relationship between t1 and t2.
The correct answer to the question is
At equilibrium a) t1 is always equal to t2.
Explanation:
For a Atwood machine we have the masses m₁ and m₂ tied together by a string
Where m₂ > m₁ we take upward to be the positive direction and gravitational constant g = + ve
When in equilibrium, by analyzing the tension in the string, we have
T₁, tension is due to the weight of m₁ and the reaction of m₂
similarly for T₂ tension is due to the weight of m₂ and the reaction of m₁
Since the string is assumed to be weightless and continuous, and the pulley is friction-less, the two weights is therefore supported only by the string hence the tension T₁ and T₂ are equal
