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28 votes
It's your birthday, and to celebrate you're going to make your first bungee jump. You stand on a bridge 100m above a raging river and attach a 35-m-long bungee cord to your harness. A bungee cord, for practical purposes, is just a long spring, and this cord has a spring constant of 43N/m . Assume that your mass is 79kg . After a long hesitation, you dive off the bridge. How far are you above the water when the cord reaches its maximum elongation? h=

User Reinier
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1 Answer

17 votes
17 votes

Answer:

h = 47 m

Step-by-step explanation:

First, we will calculate the force on the cord due to the weight:


Force = F = Weight\\F = mg\\F = (79\ kg)(9.81\ m/s^2)\\F = 775\ N

Now, we will calculate the elongation by using Hooke's Law:


F = k \Delta x

where,

k = spring constant = 43 N/m

Δx = elongation = ?

Therefore,


775\ N = (43\ N/m)\Delta x\\\\\Delta x = (775\ N)/(43\ N/m)\\\\\Delta x = 18\ m\\

So, the final length of the cord will be:


Final\ Length = Initial\ Length + \Delta x\\Final\ Length = 35\ m + 18\ m\\Final\ Length = 53\ m\\

Hence, the height from water (h) can be found using the following formula:


h = Height\ of\ Bridge - Final\ Length\ of\ cord\\h = 100\ m - 53\ m\\

h = 47 m

User Shobhu
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