Question

You have been hired to design a spring-launched roller coaster that will carry two passengers per car. The car goes up a 13-m-high hill, then descends 20 m to the track's lowest point. You've determined that the spring can be compressed a maximum of 2.4 m and that a loaded car will have a maximum mass of 430 kg. For safety reasons, the spring constant should be 13 % larger than the minimum needed for the car to just make it over the top. Part A What spring constant should you specify

Answer 1

22.15 N/m

Step-by-step explanation:

As we know potential energy = m*g*h

Potential energy of spring = (1/2)kx^2

m*g*h = (1/2)kx^2

Substituting the given values, we get -

(400)*(9.8)*(10) = (0.5)*(k)*(2.0^2)

k = 39200/2.645

k = 19600 N/m

For safety reasons, this spring constant is increased by 13 % So the new spring constant is

k = 19600 * 1.13 = 22148 N/m = 22.15 N/m