Question

A spring has a spring constant k of 82.0 N/m. How much must this spring becompressed to store 35.0 J of potential energy?

Answer 1

Given data:

* The value of the potential energy given is,

`U=35\text{ J}`

* The spring constant of the spring is,

`k=82\text{ N/m}`

Solution:

The potential energy in terms of the compressed distance of the spring is,

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

where x is the distance compressed,

Substituting the known values,

`\begin{gathered} 35=(1)/(2)*82* x^2 \\ x^2=(35*2)/(82) \\ x^2=0.854 \\ x=0.92\text{ m} \end{gathered}`

Thus, the spring is compressed to 0.92 m.