Serway & Jewett — The Laws of Motion: Problem 37

A black aluminum glider floats on a film of air above a level aluminum air track. Aluminum feels essentially no force in a magnetic field, and air resistance is negligible. A strong magnet is attached to the top of the glider, forming a total mass of 240 g. A piece of scrap iron attached to one end stop on the track attracts the magnet with a force of 0.823 N when the iron and the magnet are separated by 2.50 cm. (a) Find the acceleration of the glider at this instant. (b) The scrap iron is now attached to another green glider, forming total mass 120 g. Find the acceleration of each glider when the gliders are simultaneously released at 2.50-cm separation.