Answer:
Incomplete question: The masses of the blocks m₂ = 1.5 kg and m₃ = 2 kg
Explanation:
Given data:
L₁ = length = 0.85 m
L₂ = 0.25 m
L₃ = 0.5 m
m₂ = 1.5 kg
m₃ = 2 kg
Question: Find the unknown mass of the block 1 needed to balance the bar, m₁ = ?
The torque is zero (intermediate point of the bar)
[tex]-m_{1} gL_{1} +m_{2} gL_{2} +m_{3} gL_{3} =0[/tex]
Is negative because mass 1 is to the left of the coordinate system (see the diagram)
[tex]m_{1} =\frac{m_{2} gL_{2}+m_{3} gL_{3} }{L_{1} } =\frac{(1.5*0.25)+(2*0.5)}{0.85} =1.6176kg[/tex]