Two boxes on inclined plane fastened to wall

Question

Two blocks are connected by a massless string and are held in position by another massless string along a frictionless incline (as shown in the figure). Let M₁ = 4.30 kg, M₂ = 2.70 kg, and θθ = 52.0°.

A) Calculate the tension in the string connecting the two blocks.

B) What is the tension in the string which connects mass M₂ to the wall?

Answer 1

Draw your free-body diagrams. They should look like this:

Then write your equations. For the m1 free-body:

∑F_x = 0 = T₁ - F_g-x but Fg-x = (m₁g)sin(θ) so T₁ = (m₁g)sin(θ)

Do the same for Block m₂