How Do You Calculate Newtons In A Pulley System?
You can calculate the tension or force of a line or string in a pulley system if you keep all the units metric through your calculations. Specifically, if you keep all the units in meters, seconds and kilograms, then a calculation of the tension in the line will be in newtons. Draw a diagram of a pulley setup, with a line run over the pulley and two unequal masses hanging at each end. Call the masses m1 and m2, with m1>m2. The gravitational forces pulling down on m1 and m2 are therefore m1g and m2g, where g = 9.80 meters per second squared. Set up an equation by perceiving the two weights and string as moving as one. They share the same velocity and acceleration. The forces acting on it are m1xg in one direction and m2xg in the other. Therefore, the final equation is F = ma = (m1 + m2)a = m1g – m2g, for m1>m2. The force F will be in newtons if the masses are in kilograms and the acceleration is in meters per second squared. Divide through by the sum of the mass to get the acceleration.
