When finding tension, if the surface is frictionless, does this mean you dont include g in the tension equatio

Question

Tension equation = m(a+g) I was doing a problem and someone said to leave g out because its frictionless, is this the only circumstance you would leave g out of a tension problem because I was trying to do the problem with g. The problem consisted of some box's on a surface being pulled by a rope.

Answer 1

Tension is about forces. If you are on a horizontal surface the only way that g creates a force in the horizontal direction is through friction. On a sloped surface or vertical then there will be a term including g.