A spring with a constant of 4 (kg)/s^24kgs2 is lying on the ground with one end attached to a wall. An object with a mass of 8 kg8kg and speed of 4 m/s4ms collides with and compresses the spring until it stops moving. How much will the spring compress?

1 Answer
Mar 26, 2017

The spring will compress by =5.66m=5.66m

Explanation:

Mass of the object is m=8kgm=8kg

Speed of the object is v=4ms^-1v=4ms1

The kinetic energy of the object is

KE=1/2mv^2=1/2*8*4^2=64JKE=12mv2=12842=64J

This energy will be stored in the spring

E=1/2kx^2E=12kx2

Thre spring constant is k=4kgs^-2k=4kgs2

Therefore,

64=1/2*4*x^264=124x2

x^2=64/2=32m^2x2=642=32m2

x=sqrt32=5.66mx=32=5.66m