How to understand the concept behind the rolling spool on a tabletop

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The discussion centers on the dynamics of a rolling spool subjected to a hanging mass via a wire. When released, the spool rolls toward the hanging mass if the hub radius is smaller than the spool radius, and away if the hub radius is larger. The hanging mass will move downward due to gravity unless the spool slides. The instantaneous point of rotation for the spool is at its contact point with the tabletop, and the moment from the thread force can be calculated based on the spool's radius relative to the hub's radius.

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I have a problem involving the rotational version of Newton's Second Law. A spool is resting on a tabletop. A wire is wound around it counterclockwise and the free end of the wire goes over a pulley (located to the right of the spool) at the end of the table and attaches to a hanging mass. What happens to the spool when the system is released? Assume that there is friction between the spool and the table, and the spool undergoes pure rolling motion.

Does the spool roll away from/roll toward the pulley? If so, what happens to the hanging mass? Will it be at rest? or moving down, or moving up? If so, what is the reasoning behind it.
Thanks.
 

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Ajith12 said:
Does the spool roll away from/roll toward the pulley?
What is the instantious point of rotation for a rolling spool? What is the moment from the thread force around that point?

Ajith12 said:
If so, what happens to the hanging mass? Will it be at rest? or moving down, or moving up?
Can the mass be at rest is the spool rolls? Can the mass move up without external energy input?
 
Assuming this isn't homework, the spool rolls towards the hanging mass if the hub is smaller in radius than the spool, and away from the hanging mass if the hub is larger in radius than the spool (this would require that the spool be rolling on rails, with the larger radius hub free to rotate between the rails). If the hub has the same radius as the spool, then nothing moves unless the spool slides.

To confirm this, you can calculate what direction the wire moves if the spool rolls towards or away from the hanging mass (taking into account hub radius versus spool radius). The wire needs to move towards the hanging mass, since the only external force is gravity, which will accelerate the hanging mass downwards (unless nothing is moving).
 
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