Tension, pulley and acceleration problem

[sphykik]

Homework Statement

In the figure below (part a), two blocks are connected by a lightweight, flexible cord that passes over a frictionless pulley.
(a) If m1 = 3.3 kg and m2 = 5.1 kg, what are the accelerations of each block?
(b) What is the tension in the cord?

Homework Equations

The Attempt at a Solution

I got the acceleration, a, to be 2.1, which is correct, but I cannot figure out how to get part b. I found the weight in Newtons of the 5.1 and 3.3 blocks, and then subtracted and used F=MA to find the acceleration. Can someone point me in the right direction about the tension? Thanks!

 

[sphykik]

maybe i didnt provide enough info... i found the weight in Newtons for the 5.1kg weight to be 49.98N, and 32.34N for the 3.3kg weight. I subtracted and got 17.64N. I did F=MA, with F being 17.64, m being 8.4 (or 5.1+3.3) and found a to be 2.1. Now I can't seem to find out how to do the tension part...

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[Doc Al]

In order to find the tension you need to consider each mass separately and apply Newton's 2nd law. It looks like the free body diagrams for each mass are already given--translate them into equations and solve together. (Or, since you have the acceleration, you can just analyze one of the masses.)