If the end of the cable at A is pulled down with a speed of

5 m>s, determine the speed at which block B rises.

5 m/s

B
Solution
Position Coordinate. The positions of pulley B and point A are specified by position
coordinates sB and sA, respectively, as shown in Fig. a. This is a single-cord pulley
system. Thus,

sB + 2(sB - a) + sA = l
3sB + sA = l + 2a (1)

Time Derivative. Taking the time derivative of Eq. (1),

3vB + vA = 0 (2)
Here vA = + 5 m>s, since it is directed toward the positive sense of sA. Thus,
3vB + 5 = 0 vB = - 1.667 m>s = 1.67 m>s c  Ans.

The negative sign indicates that vB is directed toward the negative sense of sB.

Ans:
vB = 1.67 m>s