Wolfram Demonstrations Project

This Demonstration depicts a two-block problem; it assumes the value of the acceleration due to gravity,

, to be 9.8

. The masses of the blocks are indicated by their shade of blue.

One block, of mass

, rests on a smooth horizontal surface and is attached to a cord of negligible mass with tension

. The normal force

acts on this block.

The other block, of mass

, hangs vertically off the edge of the surface and is attached to the other end of the cord.

What is the acceleration,

, of the blocks?

Contributed by: Sarah Lichtblau

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The Acceleration of a Two-Block System