How Do You Find Tension & Acceleration In A Pulley System?
If you have two blocks in a pulley system and need to know their acceleration and the line’s tension, the general strategy of computation is as follows. The acceleration of the two blocks will be determined first. Then note that, for either block, the tension, T, and its acceleration, a, are related; therefore, T can be solved for, having already solved for acceleration, a. Solve for force. Newton’s second law relates force and acceleration: F=ma. Mass m is known; that’s the total mass of the blocks, or M1+M2. Acceleration, a, is unknown at first. Force, F, is known because it’s the gravitational force pulling M1 downward. It is M1—g, where g is gravitational acceleration. Solve for acceleration of the two blocks. F=ma becomes M1—g = (M1+M2)—a, where g is the gravitational acceleration. Solving for acceleration a is trivial arithmetic. Incorporate friction between M2 and the table. Then the gravitational force M1—g is working both to accelerate the two masses and to fight frict
