When using a curved axis for connected objects, do you return to a regular axis in th

Kalibasa

1. The problem statement, all variables and given/known data

I'm looking at how to calculate the tension in the ropes in an Atwood machine (two masses hanging on either side of a pulley, with mass 2 on the right side). We were told, for connected objects, that it was easiest to treat the two objects as a system and use a curved coordinate axis; then we were supposed to use this overall acceleration to find individual internal forces in a second step.


2. Relevant equations

The first step is ay= (m2-m1)g/(m1+m2)

But then in the second step he's suddenly giving us either of these equations to use:
Fnet2y= T-m2g= m2 (-ay)
Fnet1y= T-m1g=m1 (+ay)


3. The attempt at a solution

ay is negative for T2 and positive for T1. Does this mean that we're no longer using the curved axis in the second step?

indr0008

i'm not really familiar with this 'curved axis' thing, but actually ur first equation is derived from the latter two