Ball in accelerating tank with fluid

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the behavior of a wooden ball submerged in water within an accelerating tank. When the tank accelerates upwards with acceleration 'a', the tension in the string supporting the ball increases. The relevant equations include buoyancy (B = Vdg) and the net force equation (Vdg - mg - T = ma). The conclusion is that the tension is proportional to the total acceleration of the system, leading to a greater tension when the tank accelerates upwards, effectively doubling the tension when the acceleration equals gravitational acceleration (9.8 m/s²).

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  • Knowledge of basic physics equations involving forces
  • Concept of acceleration in non-inertial reference frames
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Epiclightning
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T1. Homework Statement
a wooden ball of mass m is kept inside water by the help of a massless string shown in the figure. One end of the string is fixed at the bottom of the vessel. when the vessel containing the water is accelerated upwards with acceleration a , will the tension increase and why?

Homework Equations


B = Vdg,
Vdg-mg-T = ma

The Attempt at a Solution


The answer is that the tension increases, but according to the equations above, buoyancy remains constant and the new tension is T = Vdg-mg-ma, which is lesser than before(Vdg-mg).
 

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I look at it as the acceleration of the whole tank upwards is doing nothing other than changing gravity...

The tension on the string is proportional to the total acceleration of the system... if it's accelerating upward at 9.8m/s^2 there would be double the tension.
 
Epiclightning said:

Homework Equations


B = Vdg,
That equation is only valid if the medium is not accelerating. To make it more general, compare the forces on the wooden ball to the forces that would act on the ball of water it is displacing,
 

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