Giving a pulley with mass an essential mass

[BLam417]

The set-up of the type of problem I'm trying to work with is a pulley (that has a mass) with a rope going over it that has a mass attached at each end. In class my teacher showed a way to relate this set-up with a a similar set-up where there is a mass on a flat frictionless platform attached by a rope on each side that goes over a massless pulley on its respective side and is attached to a mass. If you can understand what I just said how do I do this?

please ask questions to better understand the set-ups of the two systems.

 

[Mentz114]

please ask questions to better understand the set-ups of the two systems

Are you asking US to ask YOU questions ?

 

[m2003]

1. Can you clarify the purpose of the pulley and the attached masses in the first set-up?
2. Is the flat frictionless platform also acting as a pulley in the second set-up?
3. What is the purpose of the mass on the platform and the masses attached by ropes in the second set-up?
4. Are the two set-ups meant to achieve the same goal or are they for different experiments?
5. How do the masses and the pulley affect the overall system in each set-up?