Question

A man has to install an instrument on top of the mast of his sailboat. He uses a bosun's chair to hoist himself up. One end of a rope is tied to the bosun's chair and he pulls on the free end of the rope that goes over a frictionless pulley on top of the mast. The mass of the man and chair is 72.0 kg and he pulls on the rope with a force of 368 N. With what acceleration (in m/s2) does the man move up

Answer 1

F - w = m a = 2 T - m g net force on man and chair

F = 2 * 368 N = 736 N each rope supports 368 N

a = (736 - 72 * 9.8) / 72 = .422 m/s^2