Part (a) of the drawing shows a bucket of water suspended from the pulley of a well; the tension in the rope is 55.2 N. Part (b) shows the same bucket of water being pulled up from the well at a constant velocity. What is the tension in the rope in part (b)?
To determine the tension in the rope in part (b), we need to understand the concept of forces and equilibrium.
In part (a) of the drawing, the bucket of water is suspended from the pulley of the well. The tension in the rope is 55.2 N. Since the bucket is at rest, the forces acting on it are balanced.
In part (b), the same bucket of water is being pulled up from the well at a constant velocity. This means the bucket is moving upward with a constant speed, which indicates that the net force acting on the bucket is zero. In other words, the force pulling the bucket up is equal to the force pulling it down.
The net force on the bucket is the difference between the force of gravity pulling it down and the tension in the rope pulling it up. Since the bucket is moving up at a constant velocity, the net force is zero.
Therefore, the tension in the rope in part (b) is equal to the weight of the bucket.
To calculate the tension in the rope in part (b), we need to know the mass of the bucket. If we have the mass of the bucket, we can calculate the weight using the formula:
Weight = mass × acceleration due to gravity
Once we know the weight, we can conclude that the tension in the rope in part (b) will be equal to the weight of the bucket.