Question

A pogo stick has a spring with a spring constant of 2.5×104N/m, which can be compressed 12.0 cm. To what maximum height from the uncompressed spring can a child jump on the stick using only the energy in the spring, if the child and stick have a total mass of 40 kg?

Answer 1

Answer:

$h_{max} = 4.589\,m$

Explanation:

The system formed by the pogo stick and the child can be modelled by means of the Principle of Energy Conservation. Work losses due to air drag is neglected and let assume that system begins at a height of zero:

$U_{k,A} = U_{g,B}$

$\frac{1}{2}\cdot (25\times 10^{4}\,\frac{N}{m} )\cdot (0.12\,m)^{2} = (40\,kg)\cdot (9.807\,\frac{m}{s^{2}} )\cdot h_{max}$

The maximum height is:

$h_{max} = 4.589\,m$