Lesson Plan: Applications of Newton’s Second Law: Horizontal Pulley Mathematics
This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson teaching students how to solve problems on the motion of two bodies connected by a string passing over a smooth pulley, where one is on a horizontal table.
Objectives
Students will be able to
- find missing forces and masses in systems involving a body on a horizontal plane connected to another body suspended below a smooth pulley,
- use Newton’s second law of motion and the equations of motion to solve horizontal plane and pulley problems,
- find the force exerted on the pulley connecting a mass on a horizontal surface to a vertically hanging mass.
Prerequisites
Students should already be familiar with
- resolving forces for systems on a smooth or rough horizontal plane,
- the equations of motion,
- Newton’s second law of motion.
Exclusions
Students will not cover
- systems involving an inclined plane.