Question

A compressed spring has 16.2 J of elastic potential energy when it is compressed 0.30 m. What is the spring constant of the spring? 90 N/m 108 N/m 180 N/m 360 N/m

Answer 1

Elastic potential = 1/2 x constant x square of compression lenght
So it's 360 N/m

Answer 2

Answer: 360 N/m

Step-by-step explanation:

The elastic potential energy of a spring is given by

`E=(1)/(2)kx^2`

where

k is the spring constant

x is the compression/stretching of the spring

In this problem, we know the elastic potential energy, E=16.2 J, and the compression, x=0.30 m. Therefore, we can re-arrange the formula to calculate the spring constant k:

`k=(2E)/(x^2)=(2\cdot 16.2 J)/((0.30 m)^2)=360 N/m`