A pulley is holding two masses-0.5 kg and 2.0 kg. The system is in static equilibrium; the pulley is frictionless; the string is massless.

What is the tension of the string holding the pulley?

1 answer

If the system is in static equilibrium, there is no motion for any of the items.

So the tension of the string holding the pulley is
Ī£mass*acceleration due to gravity
=(0.5kg+2.0kg+0kg(string)+mass of pulley)*g
=(2.5kg+mass of pulley)*g