Mechanics Laboratory

Faculty of Engineering, SLIIT

BSc Engineering – Year 01 Semester 02
ME1060 - Dynamics
Laboratory Assignment
Experiment: Pulley System

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this experiment are:

 Determine the relationships between the masses and the acceleration on the pulley
system.
 Analyse the influence of the force on the string by the acceleration of the pulley and its
effects on the mass/inertia.
 To determine the change in direction of the cord as it passes over pulley and how it
affects the tension in a pulley cord.
 To analyse the mechanical advantage of a simple combination of fixed and movable
pulleys.

INTRODUCTION

A pulley is a wheel on axle that is designed to support movement and change of direction of a
cable or belt along its circumference. The pulleys are used in a variety of ways to lift in a
variety of ways to lift loads, apply forces, and to transmit power. In nautical contexts, the
assembly of wheel, axle, and supporting shell is referred to as an axle, and supporting shell is
referred to as a "block." A pulley is also called pulley is sheave or drums and may have a
groove between two flanges around it circumferences. The drive element of a pulley system
can be a rope, cable, belt, or chain that runs over the pulley inside the groove.
These are different types of pulley systems:

 Fixed: A fixed pulley has an axle mounted in bearings attached to a supporting structure.
A fixed pulley changes the direction of the force on a rope or belt that moves along its
circumference. Mechanical advantage is gained by combining a fixed pulley with a
movable pulley or another fixed pulley of a different diameter.

 Movable: A movable pulley has an axle in a movable block. A single movable pulley is
supported by two parts of the same rope and has a mechanical advantage of two.

 Compound: A combination of fixed and movable pulleys forms a block and tackle. A
block and tackle can have several pulleys mounted on the fixed and moving axles, further
increasing the mechanical advantage.

Pulleys can be much more complicated. Engineers combine many pulleys into a pulley
system that significantly reduces the amount of force required to lift an object. They often use
pulley systems to move extremely heavy objects. A block and tackle is an example of a
pulley system that can be attached to anything. It may take a lot of cable or rope, but a human
using enough pulleys could lift several tons. Engineers use the block and tackle along with
motors and electronics to create modern devices that operate with very low power
requirements, such as cranes and elevators.

Newton’s 2nd Law states that the acceleration a mass experiences is proportional to the net
force applied to it, and inversely proportional to its inertial mass ( ). An
Atwood’s Machine is a simple device consisting of a pulley, with two masses connected by a
string that runs over the pulley. For an ‘ideal Atwood’s Machine’ we assume the pulley is
massless, and frictionless, that the string is un-stretchable, therefore a constant length, and
also massless.

APPARATUS

 Pulleys
 Weights
 Weight Hanger
 String
 Knurled nuts

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 Adjustable hooks
 Spring balance
 Smart phone / Camera

Figure 1: Apparatus setup

THEORY

The simplest theory of operation for a pulley system assumes that the pulleys and lines are
weightless, and that there is no energy loss due to friction. It is also assumed that the lines do
not stretch. In equilibrium, the forces on the moving block must sum to zero. In addition the
tension in the rope must be the same for each of its parts. This means that the two parts of the
rope supporting the moving block must each support half the load.

Figure 2: The load F on the fixed pulley is balanced by the tension in two parts of the rope supporting the
pulley

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 Figure 3: A movable pulley lifting the load W is supported by two rope parts with tension W/2

The real mechanical advantage of a pulley is in using many pulleys at once. Using multiple
pulleys decreases the amount of force necessary to move an object by increasing the amount
of rope used to raise the object. The mechanical advantage (MA) of a pulley system is equal
to the number of ropes supporting the movable load.

Theoretically the mechanical advantage of pulleys is given by

Where;

W = the applied load, which is the weight of the weight hook plus the pulley block

P = the effort to raise the weight, W.

Newton’s 2nd Law

Consider the following diagram and it is one of the standard ways to apply Newton’s 2nd Law
is to draw free body diagrams for the masses in the system, then write force summation
equations for each Free Body Diagram. We will use the standard practice of labelling masses
from smallest to largest, therefore m2 > m1.

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 Figure 4: Force body diagram

For the apparatus setup, there are only forces acting on the masses in the vertical direction so
we will only need to write force summation equations for the y‐direction. We obtain the
following Free Body Diagrams for the two masses. Each of the masses has two forces acting
on it. Each has its own weight (m1g, or m2g) pointing downwards and each has the tension
(T) in the string pointing upwards. By the assumption of an ideal string the tension is the
same throughout the string. Using the standard convention that upwards is the positive
direction, and downwards is the negative direction, we can now write the Force Summation
Equation for each mass.

In the force summation equations, as they are written here, the letters T, g, and a only
represent the magnitudes of the forces acting on the masses, or the accelerations of the
masses. The directions of these vectors are indicated by +/‐ signs in front of each term. In
these equations the + signs are not actually written out, but they should be understood to be
there. Understanding this we can see that m1 is being accelerated upwards at the exact same
magnitude that m2 is being accelerated downwards. The reason m2 is being accelerated
downwards is due to m2 having a larger weight than m1, and therefore there is a greater
downwards acting force on m2 than m1. To solve for the magnitude of the acceleration that

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both masses will experience, we can simply use the substitution method by solving one
equation for the tension T, then substituting that into the other equation. Let’s use the
question for mass 1 to solve for the tension, and then insert that into the equation for mass 2,
then solve for the magnitude of the acceleration.

Here we see that the magnitude of the acceleration the two masses experience is given by the
ratio of the difference of the two masses and the sum of the two masses all times
gravitational acceleration. Since that ratio will always be less than 1, the acceleration will
always be less than gravitational acceleration. As the ratio gets closer to 1, then the value of
the acceleration of the masses approaches the value of gravitational acceleration. However, as
the value of this ratio gets closer to zero, then the value of the acceleration approaches zero as
well. Also, comparing this equation to Newton’s 2nd Law we get.

Here we see that the net force acting on each mass is equal to gravitational acceleration times
the difference of the two masses. From the above algebra we can clearly see that

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Returning to the frictionless approximation, find an equation relating the work done by T1 to
the change in energy of the m1-gorund. Assume the mass starts from rest and is displaced a
distance x from its initial position. Similarly find an equation relating the work done by T 2 to
the change in energy of the m2-ground. Since the tensions are equal in magnitude and the
displacements are likewise equal in magnitude, we could eliminate the work done by the
tensions to find

This is the energy of the m1-m2-ground and ideally E=0, that is, the energy of the m1-m2-
ground is conserved. That is, ideally the energy does not change from its initial value which
can be taken to be

again assuming that the system starts from rest in the position shown on the left above.

Friction must be brought into the energy approach. But as friction accounted for the deviation
from the ideal acceleration in the previous approach, it should also account for any changes in
the energy in the latter approach. That is, the work associated with the frictional force (the
work done against the frictional force) should equal the observed change in energy.

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PROCEDURE

Experiment - Part 1

 For this part 1 of the experiment you will keep the total mass used constant, but move
weights from one side to the other.

 Thread the string through the pulley and attach a hook to each end.

 Set up the apparatus as shown in Figure 1. Be sure that the masses can move at least 60
cm before the heavier mass strikes the floor.

 Fix the smart phone or camera in front of apparatus to record the movement of masses.

 Arrange a collection of masses on apparatus totalling 380g, which is 200 g for m1 and 180
g for m2.

 To measure the acceleration of this system, pull the smaller mass down about 60 cm.
Steady the masses so they are not swinging. Start data collection. After a moment, release
the smaller mass, catching the falling mass before it strikes the floor or the other mass
strikes the pulley.

 Video record the movement of complete process. The displacement length can be
measured using a meter rule, while the time taken can be gathered from the video
recorder. Both data will be used to find the acceleration.

 Remove 10 g from m2 and add it to m1. Note that the total mass remains the same.

 Continue to move masses from m2 to m1 in 10 g increments, changing the difference

between the masses, but keeping the total constant. Repeat steps for each mass
combination. Record the data in the data table.

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Experiment - Part 2

 Mounting panel in the vertical position with secure point

 Adjustable hook with correct position and locked with nuts.
 Slide the hoop up the hoop up to maximum point to give the shortest length.
 Place the pulley on the mounting board and secure with nut.
 Hang the spring balance on the adjustable hook.

Test 1

 Apparatus is fixed on the position as show in the below Figure 5.

Figure 5

 0.5N of load is adding to weight hook to give a total weight of 1N on the cord. (The
weight of the hook is 0.5N)
 Read the reading shown on the spring balance and record down the result.
 2N, 3N, 4N, and 5N of loads are added consequently by repeating the step 1 and step 2.

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Test 2

 Set up the apparatus as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6

 A single long cord (500mm) is use and repeat for Test 1. The friction between the cord
and pulley will make the apparatus will now be rather insensitive.
 The weight of spring balance reading is record down.

Test 3

 Apparatus is arranged as the position shown in Figure 7 that string is passing through the
pulley block.

Figure 7

 Pulley block’s weight is measure and record down the weight.

 Repeat the loads as showed in Test 1.
 Record down the reading of weight on the spring balance.

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Test 4

 Apparatus is set up as shown in the Figure 8.

Figure 8

 Determine the force, P able to raise the load W applying load as in test 1.
 Compare the reading of the spring load with the force P.

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OBSERVATION

Experiment - Part 1

Experimental
Trial m1 (g) m2 (g) m Total (g) Distance (m) Time (s)
Acceleration (m/s2)
1 200 180
2 210 170
3 220 160
4 230 150
5 240 140

Experiment - Part 2

For Test 1

Total weight including weight hook, W (N) Weight shown on the spring balance, W (N)
1
2
3
4
5

For Test 2

Total weight including weight hook, W (N) Weight shown on the spring balance, W (N)
1
2
3
4
5

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For Test 3

Total weight including weight hook, W (N) Weight shown on the spring balance, W (N)
1
2
3
4
5

For Test 4

The effort to raise the Weight shown on the spring

Weight, W (N)
weight, P (N) balance, W (N)
1
2
3
4
5

Name:
Student Number:
Group:
Date:
Instructor Name:

OFFICE USE ONLY

The student has successfully completed the laboratory exercise.

………………………………
Instructor

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 RESULTS

Experiment - Part 1

 For each trial, calculate the total mass in grams. Enter the result in the column
labelled .
 Use the experimental acceleration to calculate the net force, and find the % error between
the theoretical acceleration and the experimental acceleration for each run.

Experimental Theoretical
m1 m2 m Total
Trial m (g) Acceleration Acceleration Fnet (N) % Error
(g) (g) (g)
(m/s2) (m/s2)
1 200 180
2 210 170
3 220 160
4 230 150
5 240 140

 Plot graphs of both experimental and theoretical acceleration vs. m, using the data.

Experiment - Part 2

Calculate the Actual Mechanical Advantage (MA) of pulley system at test 4 for each weight?

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DISCUSSION

Experiment - Part 1

Based on analysis of the graphs from Part 1 experiment, what is the relationship between the
mass difference and the acceleration?

What are some reasons that would account for the percentage error calculated above?

Experiment - Part 2

How did the number of pulleys in the pulley system affect the actual mechanical advantage of
the system?

What are the types and applications of pulley systems in engineering industry?

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