Question

A spring of negligible mass has a force constant of 1600 N/m. How far must the spring be compressed for 3.20 J of potential energy to be stored it?

Answer 1

Answer:

0.063 m

Explanation:

The elastic potential energy stored in a spring is given by

$U=\frac{1}{2}kx^2$

where

k is the spring constant

x is the compression/stretching of the spring

In this problem, we know the energy stored in the spring: U = 3.20 J, and the spring constant: k = 1600 N/m, so we can re-arrange the formula to find the compression:

$x=\sqrt{\frac{2U}{k}}=\sqrt{\frac{2(3.20 J)}{1600 N/m}}=0.063 m$