. Two friends of masses ??1 and ??2 sit on desk chairs on a frictionless ice sur
ID: 1269052 • Letter: #
Question
. Two friends of masses ??1 and ??2 sit on desk chairs on a frictionless ice surface. They begin at
rest, each holding opposite ends of a massless rope of length ?? meters. They pull on the rope to
bring themselves closer together.
a. If they each pull on the rope with equal speed (coiling up the same amount of rope in a
given time), how far will they each travel before they meet? What length of rope will
each one have pulled into their laps?
b. If friend 1 holds his end of the rope stationary while only friend 2 pulls on the rope, how
far will they each travel before they meet? Is your answer different than in a? What
length of rope will each one have pulled into their laps?
Explanation / Answer
A) If the masses are equal, and they each pull on the rope with equal speed, they will both travel half the length of the rope. Each friend should have half of the total length of rope in their lap.
B) If only friend 2 pulls on the rope and their masses are still equal, they will still both travel towards the center and meet halfway between their original positions. The answer is the same as part "A". Friend 2 will have all of the rope in his lap, and friend 1 will have none.
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