Two metal blocks A and B were placed on the two pans ofa common balance and the beam of the balance was horizontal. However, when the blocks were interchanged and block B was placed in the left pan and block A in the right pan, the beam was not balanced and tilted down toward the left. Discuss the various factors that could be the cause of this. Are the masses of two blocks equal?

Explanation

Consider the weights of the empty pans. How would the beam be balanced if the empty pans have unequal masses?
`m_B gt m_A`