A man of mass stands on a block of mass which rests on an inclined plane of inclination and is connected to a light rope. This rope goes through 3 pulleys and lands back in the hands of the man as shown in the figure. If the coefficient of friction between the block and the surface is , then find the maximum force with which the man can pull the rope downwards such that the block does not start sliding down the inclined plane.
Details and assumptions :-
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Let the mass of the man be M kg , that of the block be m kg , the co-efficient of friction be μ , the angle of inclination of the inclined plane be θ , the accelerarion due to gravity he g , R be the reaction force and the force applied be T . Note that the force applied by the man is the same as the tension in the wire.
The y-component of the forces acting on the inclined plane due to the weights of the man and the block is (M+m)g cos θ .
So, the reaction force and the tension in the string acts opposite to the force above.
So, (M+m)g cos θ R = R + T = (M+m)g cos θ − T ⟶ 1
The frictional force acting is μ R = μ ( (M+m)g cos θ − T ) (From 1 ).
The net force acting in forward direction = T + (M + m)g sin θ .
Since we need the block is at rest,
T + (M + m)g sin θ − ( μ ( (M+m)g cos θ − T ) ) T − μ (M+m)g cos θ + μ T T ( μ + 1 ) T = 0 = − (M+m)g sin θ = μ (M+m)g cos θ − (M+m)g sin θ = ( μ + 1 ) g(M + m) ( μ cos θ − sin θ )
So, plugging in the values M = 5 0 , m = 5 , μ = 1 0 . 1 , θ = 3 0 ° and g = 1 0 , we get:-
T = ( 1 0 . 1 + 1 ) 1 0 ( 5 0 + 5 ) ( 1 0 . 1 × cos 3 0 ° − sin 3 0 ° ) = 4 0 8 . 6 2 8 ≈ 4 0 9