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A mass of 250.0 g is suspended from a spring hanging vertically. The spring stretches 6.00 cm. How much will the spring stretch if the suspended mass is 530.0 g?

a) 2.55 cm
b) 3.90 cm
c) 5.10 cm
d) 7.08 cm

User Arruda
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1 Answer

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Final answer:

The spring will stretch approximately 12.96 cm when the mass is increased to 530.0 g.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find how much the spring will stretch when a new mass is added, we can use Hooke's Law, which states that the force exerted by a spring is directly proportional to its displacement. The formula is given by F = kx, where F is the force, k is the force constant of the spring, and x is the displacement.

We can rearrange the formula to solve for x: x = F/k. Using the given values, the original force F is 250.0 g times the acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/s^2), and the original displacement x is 6.00 cm. Therefore, the original force is (250.0 g) * (9.8 m/s^2) = 2450.0 g m/s^2, and the force constant k is given by k = F/x = (2450.0 g m/s^2)/(6.00 cm). Now we can plug in the new mass and solve for the new displacement.

Calculating the new force F' = (530.0 g) * (9.8 m/s^2) = 5194.0 g m/s^2, and using the formula x = F'/k, we find the new displacement to be x = (5194.0 g m/s^2)/(2450.0 g m/s^2 / 6.00 cm) = 12.96 cm. Therefore, the spring will stretch by approximately 12.96 cm when the mass is increased to 530.0 g.

User Onur
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