Answer to Question #253273 in Classical Mechanics for Mal

Question

Question:

There's a hanging mass, and a cart attached to it via a string.

1) If the hanging mass is much heavier than the mass of the cart, what would be the acceleration of the system? Explain why.

2) If the hanging mass and the cart were the exact same mass, what would be the acceleration of the system? Explain why.

No values are required! Just a general explanation. Please use words for an explanation (Ex. the acceleration would be the same because…) instead of just formulas (formulas to represent are ok, but I need it written in pure wording to understand fully) Thanks!

Answer 1

Acceleration is inversely proportional to mass.

Let's simplify the problem and consider the system of a suspended mass and a cart as an increase in the mass of the suspended body by the mass of the cart, provided that the force does not change.

1) Cart weight is negligible compared to body weight.

Its influence can be neglected and it can be argued that the acceleration coincides with the acceleration of gravity.

2)The total mass of bodies is twice the mass of the  hanging mass. Therefore, the acceleration of the system will be half the acceleration of gravity.