Probing the misconception:

 Students often fail to see the kinematical constraint of a string connecting two accelerating objects.

References Description

 

Compare the acceleration of the red block to the blue block in each of the cases shown below. In cases a and b, a constant force is pulling on the rightmost string.

a.  

b.

c.

 Correct Answer

 

Students suffering from this difficulty will tend to give different accelerations to blocks that are directly connected by a string.

 

 

 

 

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