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MasteringPhysics - Assignment 9 - Forces Part One

This document provides steps for solving problems using Newton's Second Law. It applies the steps to the example of two blocks connected by a string that passes over a pulley. The steps are: 1) visualize the problem and identify special cases, 2) draw force diagrams for each body, 3) choose coordinate systems, 4) apply Newton's Second Law to each body, 5) write equations for constraints, 6) solve the equations, and 7) check the answer. The example problem is then worked through using these steps to find the acceleration of one of the blocks.

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6K views

MasteringPhysics - Assignment 9 - Forces Part One

This document provides steps for solving problems using Newton's Second Law. It applies the steps to the example of two blocks connected by a string that passes over a pulley. The steps are: 1) visualize the problem and identify special cases, 2) draw force diagrams for each body, 3) choose coordinate systems, 4) apply Newton's Second Law to each body, 5) write equations for constraints, 6) solve the equations, and 7) check the answer. The example problem is then worked through using these steps to find the acceleration of one of the blocks.

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Strange Sht
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10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 3 - Forces Part One

ApplyingNewton's2ndLaw

LearningGoal:
TolearnasystematicapproachtosolvingNewton's2ndlawproblemsusingasimpleexample.

OnceyouhavedecidedtosolveaproblemusingNewton's2ndlaw,therearestepsthatwillleadyoutoasolution.Onesuch
prescriptionisthefollowing:

Visualizetheproblemandidentifyspecialcases.
Isolateeachbodyanddrawtheforcesactingonit.
Chooseacoordinatesystemforeachbody.
ApplyNewton's2ndlawtoeachbody.
Writeequationsfortheconstraintsandothergiveninformation.
Solvetheresultingequationssymbolically.
Checkthatyouranswerhasthecorrectdimensionsandsatisfiesspecialcases.
Ifnumbersaregivenintheproblem,plugtheminandcheckthattheanswermakessense.
Thinkaboutgeneralizationsorsimplficationsoftheproblem.

Asanexample,wewillapplythisproceduretofindtheaccelerationofablockofmassm2 thatispulledupafrictionlessplane
inclinedatanglewithrespecttothehorizontalbyaperfectstringthatpassesoveraperfectpulleytoablockofmassm1 that
ishangingvertically.

Visualizetheproblemandidentifyspecialcases

Firstexaminetheproblembydrawingapictureandvisualizingthemotion.ApplyNewton's2ndlaw, F = ma,toeachbody

inyourmind.Don'tworryaboutwhichquantitiesaregiven.Thinkabouttheforcesoneachbody:Howaretheseconsistentwith
thedirectionoftheaccelerationforthatbody?Canyouthinkofanyspecialcasesthatyoucansolvequicklynowandusetotest
yourunderstandinglater?

Onespecialcaseinthisproblemisifm2 = 0 ,inwhichcaseblock1wouldsimplyfallfreelyundertheaccelerationofgravity:
^
a1 = g j .

PartA
Consideranotherspecialcaseinwhichtheinclinedplaneisvertical( = /2 ).Inthiscase,forwhatvalueofm1 wouldthe
accelerationofthetwoblocksbeequaltozero?
Expressyouranswerintermsofsomeorallofthevariablesm2 andg.
ANSWER:

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10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 3 - Forces Part One

m1 = m2

Correct

Isolateeachbodyanddrawtheforcesactingonit
AforcediagramshouldincludeonlyrealforcesthatactonthebodyandsatisfyNewton's3rdlaw.Onewaytocheckiftheforces
arerealistodetrminewhethertheyarepartofaNewton's3rdlawpair,thatis,whethertheyresultfromaphysicalinteraction
thatalsocausesanoppositeforceonsomeotherbody,whichmaynotbepartoftheproblem.Donotdecomposetheforcesinto
components,anddonotincluderesultantforcesthatarecombinationsofotherrealforceslikecentripetalforceorfictitiousforces
likethe"centrifugal"force.

Assigneachforceasymbol,butdon'tstarttosolvetheproblematthispoint.

PartB
Whichofthefourdrawingsisacorrectforcediagramforthisproblem?

ANSWER:

Correct

Chooseacoordinatesystemforeachbody

Newton's2ndlaw, F = ma,isavectorequation.Toaddorsubtractvectorsitisofteneasiesttodecomposeeachvectorinto

components.Whereasaparticularsetofvectorcomponentsisonlyvalidinaparticularcoordinatesystem,thevectorequality
holdsinanycoordinatesystem,givingyoufreedomtopickacoordinatesystemthatmostsimplifiestheequationsthatresult
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fromthecomponentequations.
https://session.masteringphysics.com/myct/itemView?view=print&assignmentProblemID=83957190 2/5
10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 3 - Forces Part One
It'sgenerallybesttopickacoordinatesystemwheretheaccelerationofthesystemliesdirectlyononeofthecoordinateaxes.If
thereisnoacceleration,thenpickacoordinatesystemwithasmanyunknownsaspossiblealongthecoordinateaxes.Vectors
thatliealongtheaxesappearinonlyoneoftheequationsforeachcomponent,ratherthanintwoequationswithtrigonometric
prefactors.Notethatitissometimesadvantageoustousedifferentcoordinatesystemsforeachbodyintheproblem.

Inthisproblem,youshoulduseCartesiancoordinatesandyouraxesshouldbestationarywithrespecttotheinclinedplane.

PartC
Giventhecriteriajustdescribed,whatorientationofthecoordinateaxeswouldbebesttouseinthisproblem?
Intheansweroptions,"tilted"meanswiththexaxisorientedparalleltotheplane(i.e.,atangletothehorizontal),
and"level"meanswiththexaxishorizontal.
ANSWER:

tiltedforbothblock1andblock2

tiltedforblock1andlevelforblock2

levelforblock1andtiltedforblock2

levelforbothblock1andblock2

Correct

ApplyNewton's2ndlawtoeachbody

PartD
Whatis F2x ,thesumofthexcomponentsoftheforcesactingonblock2?Takeforcesactinguptheinclinetobe
positive.
ExpressyouranswerintermsofsomeorallofthevariablestensionT ,m2 ,themagnitudeoftheaccelerationof
gravityg,and.

Hint1.Decomposetheforceofgravityonblock2
Inthisproblem,thehardestforcevectortoexpressintermsofitscoordinatesistheforceofgravityonblock2.The
magnitudeoftheweightism2 g.Findtheforceofgravityintermsofitscomponents,usingatiltedcoordinatesystem
whosexaxisisparalleltoandpointinguptheinclinedplane.

Expresstheforceofgravityonblock2,F g2 ,intermsofsomeorallofthevariablesm2 ,g,and.Express
youranswerasavectorintermsoftheunitvectors^i and^
j.

ANSWER:

^ ^
F g2 = m 2 g(sin() i + cos() j )

ANSWER:
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10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 3 - Forces Part One

m 2 a2x = F 2x = T m 2 gsin()

Correct

PartE
Nowdeterminem1 a1y = F 1y ,thesumoftheycomponentsoftheforcesactingonblock1.Takeforcesactingupward
aspositive.
ExpressyouranswerintermsofsomeorallofthevariablesT ,m1 ,andg.

ANSWER:

m 1 a1y = F 1y = T m1 g

Correct

PartF
Writeequationsfortheconstraintsandothergiveninformation
Inthisproblem,thefactthatthelengthofthestringdoesnotchangeimposesaconstraintonrelativeaccelerationsofthe
twoblocks.Findarelationshipbetweenthexcomponentoftheaccelerationofblock2,a2x ,andtheaccelerationofblock1.
Paycarefulattentiontosigns.

Expressa2x intermsofa1x and/ora1y ,thecomponentsoftheaccelerationvectorofblock1.

Hint1.Visualizethemotion
Ifblock2hasanaccelerationa2x uptheincline,musttheaccelerationofblock1beupwardordownwardtokeepthe
stringtaut?

ANSWER:

a2x = a1y

Correct

PartG
Solveandcheck
Inthepreviousparts,youobtainedthefollowingequationsusingNewton's2ndlawandtheconstraintonthemotionofthe
twoblocks:

m 2 a2x = T m 2 g sin(), (1)

m 1 a1y = T m 1 g, (2)

and
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10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 3 - Forces Part One
a2x = a1y . (3)

Solvetheseequationstofinda1y .

Beforeyouenteryouranswer,makesureitsatisfiesthespecialcasesyoualreadyidentified:

a1y = g ifm2 = 0and


a1y = 0ifm 1 = m 2 and = /2 .

Alsomakesurethatyouranswerhasdimensionsofacceleration.
Expressa1y intermsofsomeorallofthevariablesm1 ,m2 ,,andg.

Hint1.Howtosolvetheequations
SubstituteforT fromequation(1)intoequation(2)andthenusea2x fromequation(3)inthenewequation(2).This
willyieldalinearequationina1y thatiseasytosolve.

ANSWER:

m 2 gsin()m 1 g
a1y =
m 1 +m 2

Correct
Canyouseehowasimplegeneralizationoftheproblemcouldbesolvedwithalittleextraworkorhowyoucouldsolve
anontrivialproblemthatisasubsetofthisone?
Forexample,imaginethatthereisfrictioninthisproblembetweentheplaneandblock2.Thiswouldleadtoan
additionalforceonblock2:Ff 2 = N ,wherethenormalforceN isgivenbyN = m2 g cos().

Thisadditionalforcewouldleadtoanewtermintheexpressionfortheaccelerationofblock1:

m 2 sin()m 2 cos()m 1
a1y = g.
m 1 +m 2

Now,bychoosingwhetherornot = 0 ,youhavearesultthatcanbeappliedwhethertheplaneisfrictionlessornot!

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