A student sets up an Atwood machine with a frictionless rope, a 4.5-kg mass, and a 9.5-kg mass. What will be the acceleration of the masses? Use the gravitational acceleration found on Earth: g = 9.8 m/s2.

3.5 m/s

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To find the acceleration of the masses in the Atwood machine, we can use the following equation:

a = (m2 - m1) * g / (m1 + m2)

Where:
a = acceleration
m1 = mass 1
m2 = mass 2
g = gravitational acceleration

In this case, m1 = 4.5 kg, m2 = 9.5 kg, and g = 9.8 m/s^2.

Now let's plug in the values to calculate the acceleration:

a = (9.5 kg - 4.5 kg) * 9.8 m/s^2 / (4.5 kg + 9.5 kg)

a = 5 kg * 9.8 m/s^2 / 14 kg

Simplifying the expression:

a = 49 N / 14 kg

a ≈ 3.50 m/s^2

Therefore, the acceleration of the masses in the Atwood machine is approximately 3.50 m/s^2.

To determine the acceleration of the masses in an Atwood machine, we can use the following equation:

a = (m2 - m1) * g / (m1 + m2)

Where:
a = acceleration of the masses
m1 = mass 1
m2 = mass 2
g = gravitational acceleration (9.8 m/s^2 on Earth)

In this case:
m1 = 4.5 kg
m2 = 9.5 kg
g = 9.8 m/s^2

Plugging the values into the equation:

a = (9.5 kg - 4.5 kg) * 9.8 m/s^2 / (4.5 kg + 9.5 kg)
a = 5 kg * 9.8 m/s^2 / 14 kg
a = 49 N / 14 kg

Therefore, the acceleration of the masses in this Atwood machine setup is approximately 3.5 m/s^2.