A spring with a constant of 4 (kg)/(s^2)4kgs2 is lying on the ground with one end attached to a wall. An object with a mass of 7 kg 7kg and speed of 8 m/s8ms collides with and compresses the spring until it stops moving. How much will the spring compress?

1 Answer
Apr 11, 2017

The spring will compress by =10.58m=10.58m

Explanation:

enter image source here

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

The kinetic energy of the object is

KE=1/2m u^2KE=12mu2

KE=1/2*7*8^2=224JKE=12782=224J

This kinetic energy will be stored in the spring as potential energy.

PE=224JPE=224J

So,

1/2kx^2=22412kx2=224

x^2=448/k=448/4=112x2=448k=4484=112

x=sqrt112=10.58mx=112=10.58m