Try it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.
A wedge of mass stands on a smooth horizontal floor. Its sloping face, on the left, makes with the floor, and its right face is vertical. A light pulley is fixed at its top corner. Block A of mass lies on the sloping face. A light string from A runs parallel to the slope, over the pulley, and down along the vertical face to block B of mass , which hangs touching the vertical face, as shown in the figure. All the surfaces and the pulley are smooth. The system is released from rest. Take , and .
Have you tried it?
Work it out on paper first. It is fine to get stuck or make a mistake: that is how we learn. When you are ready, go through the solution one step at a time, and check each step against your own.
Plan. A slides down the slope, because is more than . As A moves left, the wedge moves right and carries B with it. Use the wedge's frame for A and B, and momentum for the whole system.
Step 1. Who moves how. Let the wedge's acceleration be , to the right, and let be A's acceleration down the slope relative to the wedge. The string has a fixed length, so B rises with relative to the wedge. B also moves sideways with the wedge, because it stays against the vertical face.
Step 2. Momentum sideways. The smooth floor gives no horizontal force, and the system starts at rest, so its horizontal momentum stays zero. Over the ground, A's horizontal acceleration is , while the wedge and B both have :
Step 3. Block A, in the wedge's frame. A feels a pseudo force to the left. Its part down the slope is . Along the slope:
Step 4. Block B. Vertically: .
Step 5. Solve. Add the equations of Steps 3 and 4, and put in from Step 2:
Then .
Step 6. The forces. . B is pushed sideways only by the vertical face, so . It is positive, so B really stays pressed against the face.
Answer: (a) down the slope. (b) , away from A's side. (c) , and B presses on the wedge with .
Check. The wedge on its own, sideways. A presses on it with , whose horizontal part is to the right. B pushes it left with , and the string pulls the pulley left with . The net force is , and .
Watch out. Two things are easy to miss: B's sideways inertia (B rides along with the wedge), and the string's pull on the pulley, which is fixed to the wedge.
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