Belt Drive System with Different Wheel Sizes · Physics Brawl 2025 #2
Physics · mechanics
Problem
Two parallel shafts are spaced d=25.0 cm apart. Each carries one wheel of radius r=3.50 cm and another of radius R=6.50 cm. A stretched rubber band is looped around the two small wheels, and another around the two large ones. One shaft rotates at frequency f=1.28 Hz. Find the ratio of the time for the small-wheel band to return to its initial position after one rotation to that for the large-wheel band. The rubber band does not slip on the wheels.