What is the tension in the cylindrical wire?

[directdelta]

A cylindrical wire is placed over a frictionless pulley with one end of a wire connected to a 5.8 kg mass and the other to a 1.5 kg mass. If g=9.8 m/s/s, what is the tension in the wire?


I have no idea how to start on this.

 

[OlderDan]

Since it is not stated otherwise, assume the wire is massless. Draw a free body diagram for each mass and apply Newtons 2nd law to each of them. The tension in the wire will be uniform (massless wire) and the masses will have common magnitudes of displacement, velocity, and acceleration.

 

[kyle8921]

The tension in the cylindrical wire can be calculated using the principles of Newton's laws of motion. In this scenario, the wire is acting as a rope or string, and thus the tension in the wire can be considered as the force transmitted through the wire. According to Newton's second law, the net force acting on an object is equal to the product of its mass and acceleration.

In this case, the 5.8 kg mass is pulling the wire downwards with a force of (5.8 kg)(9.8 m/s/s) = 56.84 N. This force is balanced by the tension in the wire, which is pulling the 1.5 kg mass upwards with the same force of 56.84 N. Therefore, the tension in the wire is also 56.84 N.

In summary, the tension in the cylindrical wire is 56.84 N, which is equal to the force exerted by the 5.8 kg mass downwards. This tension remains constant throughout the wire, as there are no external forces acting on it.