Potential Energy of a Spring
A marble, m, of mass 100 g is placed onto a platform attached to a spring. The weight of the marble compresses the spring 2 cm, as shown below. A force is then applied to the platform to compress the spring an additional 3 cm. When the force is taken away, the spring decompresses and launches the marble upward. What is the maximum height the marble obtains above the unstretched spring (the spring with no mass on it).
Related Problems
A 20 kg student is about to go down a slide. There is a 3 N frictional force opposing his movement. Assume his velocity at the top of the slide is 0 m/s. Find his velocity at the bottom of the slide.
A student is about to be launched from a spring loaded canon. The student weighs 60 kg and the spring constant is 200 N/kg. Find the students velocity the moment he leaves the canon if the spring is compressed, x = 3 m. Also find the students velocity after the spring has decompressed to x = 2 m.
A nonlinear spring is compressed various distances x, and the force Frequired to compress it is measured for each distance. The data are shown in the table below.
In an experiment to determine the spring constant of an elastic cord of length 0.60 m, a student hangs the cord from a rod and then attaches a variety of weights to the cord. For each weight, the student allows the weight to hang in equilibrium and then measures the entire length of the cord. The data are recorded in the table below:
iii. Calculate the maximum speed of the object.