Question

Two masses are connected by a string and hang from a massless, frictionless pulley. One of the masses is a 9.2 kg bag of sand. When released, the sandbag falls with an acceleration of 6.1 m/s^2. What is the mass of the second object? What is the tension in the rope?

Answer 1

given,

mass of one sand bag = 9.2 kg

mass of second object = ?

acceleration = 6.1 m/s²

acceleration due to gravity = 9.8

m₁g - T = m₁ a...............(1)

T - m₂g = m₂ a................(2)

now 1 + 2

m₁g - m₂g = (m₁ +m₂)a

9.2 × 9.8 - m₂ × 9.8 = 6.1 × 9.2 + 6.1 × m₂

15.9 m₂ = 34.04

m₂ = 2.14 kg

now putting value of m₂ in equation (1)

T = m₁g - m₁ a

T = 9.2 × 9.8 - 9.2 × 2.14

T = 70.47 N