The Black Eyed Peas are having the time of their life riding an amusement park ride. They move at 1.0 m/s horizontally toward the end of the ride. A spring is used to help bring the ride to a stop, compressing over a distance of 20 cm. Find the spring constant of the ride if the Peas and their passenger car have a combined mass of 690 kg.
Answer by
Pooja Bajaj
To find the spring constant, we can use the formula F = -kx, where F is the force applied by the spring, k is the spring constant, and x is the distance the spring is compressed. In this case, the force is the weight of the Peas and their passenger car, which is given by F = mg = 690 kg 9.8 m/s^2 = 6782 N. The distance the spring is compressed is 20 cm = 0.2 m. Plugging in these values, we get 6782 N = -k 0.2 m, which gives k = -6782 N / -0.2 m = 33,910 N/m. Therefore, the spring constant of the ride is 33,910 N/m.
1.0 m/s horizontally toward the end of the ride. A spring is used to help bring the ride to a stop,
compressing over a distance of 20 cm. Find the spring constant of the ride if the Peas and their
passenger car have a combined mass of 690 kg.
To find the spring constant, we can use the formula F = -kx, where F is the force applied by the spring, k is the spring constant, and x is the distance the spring is compressed. In this case, the force is the weight of the Peas and their passenger car, which is given by F = mg = 690 kg 9.8 m/s^2 = 6782 N. The distance the spring is compressed is 20 cm = 0.2 m. Plugging in these values, we get 6782 N = -k 0.2 m, which gives k = -6782 N / -0.2 m = 33,910 N/m. Therefore, the spring constant of the ride is 33,910 N/m.