Masses Connected By Strings May Be Treated as Rigid Bodies?

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around a problem involving multiple masses connected by massless strings, with a focus on the treatment of these masses as a single system under the influence of tension forces. The subject area includes concepts from dynamics and Newtonian mechanics.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Problem interpretation

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants explore whether the two masses can be treated as a single mass for analysis, questioning the implications of this approach. There are discussions about the purpose of this treatment and how it relates to the overall problem involving multiple blocks and tension forces.

Discussion Status

The conversation is ongoing, with some participants suggesting various ways to approach the problem, including treating the blocks as a single system or analyzing them individually. There is an emphasis on applying Newton's laws to derive relationships between the forces and accelerations involved.

Contextual Notes

Participants note that the strings are taut and that the blocks are on a frictionless surface, which may influence the assumptions made in the analysis. The problem requires finding the tension in the strings based on the masses and acceleration.

breez
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Say you have 2 masses connected by a massless string, and another massless string is connected to the rightmost mass. A tension force T acts along this rightmost string, resulting in the string connecting the 2 masses to become taunt.

In these cases, you can treat the 2 masses as one mass whose total mass is the sum of the 2 masses correct?
 
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breez said:
In these cases, you can treat the 2 masses as one mass whose total mass is the sum of the 2 masses correct?
For what purpose? (Describe the problem you're working on.)
 
In the problem, 3 blocks are connected by massless strings, and another string pulls the rightmost block on a frictionless surface. You have to find the tension in the smaller strings in terms of the block masses, tension in the rightmost string, and the uniform acceleration.
 
Since the strings are taut, all three blocks have the same acceleration. You are free to choose your system as you see fit in order to solve the problem. For example, you can treat all three blocks as a single system or you can treat each block separately. (Or both!)

Just apply Newton's 2nd law to whatever system you choose and see what you can figure out. (Newton's 3rd law will help as well.)
 

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