Atwood's machine on an inclined plane

AI Thread Summary
The discussion focuses on calculating the acceleration of a system involving an inclined plane and two connected masses, using principles from Atwood's machine. The problem specifies a 7 kg box on a 37-degree incline and a 12 kg box connected via a pulley, with a kinetic friction coefficient of 0.15. The user applies Newton's second law to establish the forces acting on both boxes, including gravitational and frictional forces. They express uncertainty about their calculations after setting up the equations for both masses. The thread seeks confirmation on the approach and correctness of the derived equations before proceeding with numerical values.
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I know this has been asked before, but it was never really clearly explained.. The problem is as follows:

Homework Statement


What is the acceleration of the system shown in the diagram if the kinetic coefficient of friction is 0.15?

[diagram attached.. if not visible, it is an incline plane, with angle +37 deg. the box on the plane is 7 kg and it is being pulled upwards on the plane by a box 12 kg that is connected to a pulley going vertically down the side of the incline (it is a right angle triangle, of course)]

Homework Equations


The Attempt at a Solution



I related this to Atwood's machine as if it were vertical..

I know that the force on the m2 (12 kg box) is Fg2.

For the one on the incline, i just imagined it to be hanging vertically and pictured the forces acting downwards on it, which is Ff and Fg1.

Using Newton's second law, F = ma
I got -(Ff+Fg_{1})+Fg_{2}=(m_{1}+m_{2})a
therefore:
-[(mu)m_{1}g+m_{1}gsinx]+m_{2}g=(m_{1}+m_{2})a

From there on it's just plugging in the values, but I'm not so sure if I'm correct?

Thanks in advance!
 

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F(on 7kg) = component of gravity along incline - frictional force(f)+T
F(on 12 kg) = gravity-Tension

now proceed
 
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