Question

Megan is in her physics lab performing science experiments. She has a glider m1= 402 g on a old air track that is sticky and rough it is being pulled with a string that is connected to another hanging mass m2= 220 g. When Megan releases the system from rest she finds that the acceleration is 2.1 m/s^2 lets assume that the pulley is ideal. 1.) Megan wants to find the tension in the string. 2.) find the coefficient of friction between the glider and the track Megan has it on. Please show work.

Answer 1

here,

mass on flat surface , m1 = 402 g = 0.402 kg

the hanging mass , m2 = 220 g = 0.22 kg

acceleration , a = 2.1 m/s^2

a)

let the tension in the string be T

for m2

m2 * g - T = m2 * a

T = 0.22 * ( 9.81 - 2.1) N

T = 1.7 N

the tension in the string is 1.7 N

b)

let the coefficient of friction be uk

for m1

T - uk * m1 * g = m1 * a

1.7 - uk * 0.402 * 9.81 = 0.402 * 2.1

uk = 0.22

the coefficient of friction between the glider and the track Megan has it on is 0.22