Question

A fish of 108 N is attached to the end of a dangling spring, stretching the spring by 14.0 cm. What is the mass of a fish that would stretch the spring by 23.0 cm?

Answer 1

The mass of the fish is 18.1 kg.

Step-by-step explanation:

Given;

weight of the fish, F = 108 N

extension of the spring by the given weight, x = 14 cm = 0.14 m

First, determine the elastic constant of the spring by applying Hook's law;

F = kx

where;

k is the spring constant

k = F/x

k = 108 / 0.14

k = 771.43 N/m

When the spring is stretched to 23cm, the mass of the fish is calculated as follows;

`F = mg = Kx\\\\m = (Kx)/(g) \\\\m = (771.43* 0.23)/(9.8) \\\\m = 18.1 \ kg`

Therefore, the mass of the fish is 18.1 kg.