Question

Janet wants to find the spring constant of a given spring, so she hangs the spring vertically and attaches a 0.46 kg mass to the spring’s other end. The acceleration of gravity is 9.81 m/s 2 . If the spring stretches 3.7 cm from its equilibrium position, what is the spring constant?

Answer 1

Answer: The value of spring constant is 121.9 N/m

Step-by-step explanation:

Force is defined as the mass multiplied by the acceleration of the object.

`F=m* g`

where,

F = force exerted on the object = ?

m = mass of the object = 0.46 kg

g = acceleration due to gravity =
`9.81m/s^2`

Putting values in above equation, we get:

`F=0.46kg* 9.81m/s^2=4.51N`

To calculate the spring constant, we use the equation:

`F=k* x`

where,

F = force exerted on the spring = 4.51 N

k = spring constant = ?

x = length of the spring = 3.7 cm = 0.037 m (Conversion factor: 1 m = 100 cm)

Putting values in above equation, we get:

`4.51N=k* 0.037m\\\\k=(4.51N)/(0.037m)=121.9N/m`

Hence, the value of spring constant is 121.9 N/m