Why Does Increasing Weight Decrease Acceleration in a Pulley System?

AI Thread Summary
In a pulley system, increasing the mass of the object connected to the hanger results in decreased acceleration, as observed in the lab data. The experiments show that as the mass of the puck increases, the difference between the experimental acceleration and the theoretical acceleration decreases, indicating a reduction in frictional force. This suggests that with greater weight, the system experiences a more balanced force distribution, which may lead to less frictional resistance. The confusion arises from the relationship between weight and friction, as one might expect increased weight to increase friction. Understanding this dynamic is crucial for accurately interpreting the results of the experiment.
tnutty
Messages
324
Reaction score
1
This is not a homework question. I though I post this here because more members here a helping us, rather than the general physics question. Please don't move this:
This post might be long to read, but is easy. I thank you if you take the time to read it.

So I am confused on why this is. I was done with my lab and got the result. Now I am writing a lab report. I have the following data :

With constant hanger mass of 0.125kg, the accelerations are :

Trial # ---- acceleration of experiment ---- acceleration of frictionless
1 ------ 2.5200 ------ 4.77
2 ------ 1.4440 ------ 3.99
3 ------ 0.7200 ------ 3.40
4 ------ 0.1460 ------ 3.01
5 ------ 0.0536 ------ 2.68

This is a pulley system. The hanger is the one hanging at the end of the table. A puck is connected with a "massless" string which runs through a "massless" pulley, which connects to a hanger. So in this trials the hanger's mass is constant and the pucks mass is increases with trial. Although it is not shown.

I hope you understand what I said thus far. So from the data you can see that the force
of friction is decreasing as the mass increases. Just by subtracting the acceleration of experiment by the below trial shows that the difference in the acceleration is decreasing, thus the force of friction is also decreasing. The acceleration of frictionless is the theoretical acceleration.

Why is it the in a as a object weight increases, it experiences less force of friction?
 
Last edited:
Physics news on Phys.org
I think I might have misinterpreted the info.
 
Thread 'Variable mass system : water sprayed into a moving container'
Starting with the mass considerations #m(t)# is mass of water #M_{c}# mass of container and #M(t)# mass of total system $$M(t) = M_{C} + m(t)$$ $$\Rightarrow \frac{dM(t)}{dt} = \frac{dm(t)}{dt}$$ $$P_i = Mv + u \, dm$$ $$P_f = (M + dm)(v + dv)$$ $$\Delta P = M \, dv + (v - u) \, dm$$ $$F = \frac{dP}{dt} = M \frac{dv}{dt} + (v - u) \frac{dm}{dt}$$ $$F = u \frac{dm}{dt} = \rho A u^2$$ from conservation of momentum , the cannon recoils with the same force which it applies. $$\quad \frac{dm}{dt}...
TL;DR Summary: I came across this question from a Sri Lankan A-level textbook. Question - An ice cube with a length of 10 cm is immersed in water at 0 °C. An observer observes the ice cube from the water, and it seems to be 7.75 cm long. If the refractive index of water is 4/3, find the height of the ice cube immersed in the water. I could not understand how the apparent height of the ice cube in the water depends on the height of the ice cube immersed in the water. Does anyone have an...
Back
Top