Gah...another pain that alludes me. So apparently, a crate of mass 60 kg is attached to one end of a string, and the other end of the string runs over a pulley and is held by a person as in the figure below. If the person pulls with a force of 77 N, what is the crate's acceleration? (Assume that upward is the positive direction. Indicate the direction with the sign of your answer.)

Don't I just plug in the values into F=ma? Am I missing something else?

Question

Gah...another pain that alludes me. So apparently, a crate of mass 60 kg is attached to one end of a string, and the other end of the string runs over a pulley and is held by a person as in the figure below. If the person pulls with a force of 77 N, what is the crate's acceleration? (Assume that upward is the positive direction. Indicate the direction with the sign of your answer.)

Don't I just plug in the values into F=ma? Am I missing something else?

roadjester · Answer

is there an angle?

anonymous · Answer

No, no angle. just a mass being held up by a pull and the other end of the rope is being held or pulled down by a person.

roadjester · Answer

52.14m/s^2

roadjester · Answer

$$60 (9.8) -77\over 9.8$$

anonymous · Answer

No that wasn't the right answer :( I appreciate you trying though.

roadjester · Answer

I'd recommend uploading the figure

anonymous · Answer

F = m a

77N = (60 kg) (a)

a = 77/60 = 1.28

pulls down, so a is up.