What is the deflection of a spring? A ball of mass 2kg is dropped from a height if 20cm on a spring of stiffness k=1225 N/m. Find the maximum deflection of the spring.
Use the law of conservation of energy.
Potential energy of the object with mass m at the height h is equal to:
E=mgh
and the potential energy of a spring is equal to Espring=1/2kx^2
where k = spring constant, x = displacement
Since all the gravitational potential energy will be transformed to the spring potential energy, its quite easy to figure out the displacement from this two equations
E= mgh E= 2*9.8*0.2 E= 3.92
E=1/2kx^2 E=1/2*1225*X^2 3.92*2=1225*X^2 0.0064=X^2 X=0.08 m or 8 cm
