During a Dead Wait concert, Sharika and Chico, each of mass M, are attached to the ends of a light rope that is hung over two frictionless pulleys, as shown in Figure 6-38. A large gong of mass m is attached to the middle of the rope, between the pulleys, and Sharika and Chico beat it madly in lieu of the usual guitar solo.

(a) Find the potential energy of the system as a function of the distance y to the center of the gong.

(b) Find the value of y for which the potential energy function of the system is a minimum.

(c) Find the equilibrium distance y0 using the potential energy function.

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