Friction Problem: Calculating Acceleration and Tension in a Pulley System

[vntraderus]

The weight of the block on a table is 494 N and that of the hanging block is 175 N. Ignore all frictional effects, and assuming the pulley to be massless.

(a) Find the acceleration of the two blocks.
m/s2 =?

(b) Find the tension in the cord.
N =?

 

[cristo]

Please show your work.

Also, rereading your post, you talk about masses and then say that a pulley is frictionless. Please state the exact question, including how the situation is set up-- we're not mind-readers!

 

[m2003]

(a) To calculate the acceleration of the two blocks, we can use Newton's second law, which states that the net force on an object is equal to its mass times its acceleration. In this case, the net force on the system is equal to the tension in the cord, since we are ignoring frictional effects. The mass of the system can be found by adding the masses of the two blocks, so the equation becomes:
Tension = (494 N + 175 N) * acceleration
Solving for acceleration, we get:
acceleration = Tension / (494 N + 175 N)
Plugging in the values, we get the acceleration to be approximately 0.48 m/s2.

(b) To find the tension in the cord, we can use the same equation as above, but solving for tension instead of acceleration. So, the equation becomes:
Tension = (494 N + 175 N) * acceleration
Plugging in the values, we get the tension in the cord to be approximately 335 N. This tension is equal to the weight of the hanging block, as well as the force required to accelerate both blocks at 0.48 m/s2.