The apparatus shown above is known as Fletcher's Trolley. The apparatus is assumed to be without dissipative friction, and it is assumed that the string connecting the two blocks cannot stretch. The pulley and the string are assumed to be massless.

While the blocks are moving, the magnitude of the force applied by the string on block 1, which is equal to the tension in the string, is

    (a) less than the weight of block 2

    (b) equal to the weight of block 2

    (c) greater than the weight of block 2