Question

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

Answer 1

`x=sqrt{32}` m.

Explanation:

The object will lose all its kinetic energy and come to a stop when the spring is compressed the most. This means that the spring potential energy must increase by the same amount and this means that
`1/2 xx 4 xx 8^2 = 1/2 xx 8 xx x^2`
which means that `x=sqrt{32}` m.