Thread: Simple pulley system question

This one problem makes no sense to me; I have a pulley system, one pulley attached to the ceiling with the rope running over it, and the other pulley hanging on the rope with a cylinder attached to it. The system looks like this horrible diagram over here. How does the twenty-kilogram cylinder balance with a 10-kilogram cylinder hung on the left side of the rope?

Originally Posted by Chokfull

This one problem makes no sense to me; I have a pulley system, one pulley attached to the ceiling with the rope running over it, and the other pulley hanging on the rope with a cylinder attached to it. The system looks like this horrible diagram over here. How does the twenty-kilogram cylinder balance with a 10-kilogram cylinder hung on the left side of the rope?

1. I've modified your sketch a little bit.

2. The load of 20g ist distributed on two strings which both have to hold half of the load.

3. What you didn't take into account: The ceiling is pulling up with 10g and therefore the other side of the rope must be pulled with 10g too to keep the whole system in equilibrium.