Question

Two carts connected by a 0.30 m spring hit a wall, compressing the spring to 0.20 m. The spring constant k is 50 N/m. What is the elastic potential energy stored from the spring's compression

Answer 1

Eelas = 0.25[J]

Step-by-step explanation:

This problem can be solved using the principle of energy conservation, in this particular case related to elastic energy.

The elastic energy can be calculated by means of the following equation:

`E_(elas)=0.5*k*x^2`

where:

k = The spring constant is 50 [N/m]

x = distance compressed = 0.3 - 0.2 = 0.1 [m]

`E_(elas)=0.5*50*(0.1)^(2) \\E_(elas)=0.25[J]`