Question

A 56 kg student stands atop aspring in an elevator that is acceleratingupward at 3.5 m/s2m/s2. The springconstant is 2900 N/mN/m. Part A Byhow much is the spring compressed

Answer 1

Given data,

Mass,

`m=56\text{ kg}`

Acceleration,

`a=3.5m/s^2`

Spring constant,

`k=2900\text{ N/m}`

Acceleration due to gravity,

`g=9.8m/s^2`

Accelerating upward,

`\begin{gathered} a^(\prime)=(a+g) \\ a^(\prime)=3.5m/s^2+9.8m/s^2 \\ a^(\prime)=13.3m/s^2 \end{gathered}`

Comsider the formula for force.

`\begin{gathered} F=kx \\ ma^(\prime)=kx \\ 56kg*13.3m/s^2=2900\text{ N/m}* x \\ x=25.68\text{ cm} \end{gathered}`

Thus, the spring compression is 25.68 cm.