Newton's 2nd Law (20 of 21) Will it Accelerate? Inclined Plane w/o Friction and a Pulley

TL;DR

This video explains the concept of acceleration in a pulley system on an incline plane with no friction.

Transcript

okay in today's video once again we're going to play one of my favorite physics games and that is will it accelerate in this case it's really will they accelerate because in this situation we have the incline plane the pulley we have object m1 which is on the inclined plane there is no friction between object m1 and the incline plane then we have a... Read More

Key Insights

• ✈️ The presence of unbalanced forces is necessary for acceleration to occur in a pulley system on an incline plane.
• ❓ The direction of acceleration can be determined by comparing the forces of m1gx and m2g.
• 💆 Changing the mass of the objects or the angle of inclination can affect the direction of acceleration.
• 🧑‍🏭 Friction is not a factor in this system as there is no friction between m1 and the incline plane.
• 👮 The tension forces in the string are equal in magnitude but opposite in direction due to Newton's third law.
• ❓ Understanding the concept of acceleration in this system requires both calculations and conceptual understanding.
• 💆 Decreasing the mass of m1 can result in a change in acceleration direction from negative to positive.

Questions & Answers

Q: What are the two possibilities for acceleration in this pulley system?

The two possibilities are acceleration in the positive direction (m1 moves up, m2 moves down) or acceleration in the negative direction (m1 moves down, m2 moves up).

Q: What forces are acting on object m1 and object m2?

For object m1, the forces are gravity (m1g), the normal force from the incline plane, and the tension force in the string. For object m2, the forces are gravity (m2g) and the tension force in the string.

Q: How is the force due to gravity (m1g) broken into its components?

The force due to gravity is broken into its y-component (equal in magnitude but opposite in direction to the normal force) and the x-component (m1gx) acting down the incline plane.

Q: What determines the direction of acceleration in this system?

The direction of acceleration is determined by which force is greater between m1gx (negative direction) and m2g (positive direction). If m1gx is greater, the objects accelerate in the negative direction, and if m2g is greater, they accelerate in the positive direction.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The video explores whether two objects on an incline plane connected by a string will accelerate.

• The presence of unbalanced forces determines whether the objects will accelerate in the positive or negative direction.

• The video provides examples and calculations to demonstrate how changes in mass and angle of inclination affect the direction of acceleration.