Springs & Elastic Potential Energy Video Lessons

Example

# Problem: A spring is hung from the ceiling. A 0.400-kg block is then attached to the free end ofthe spring. When released from rest, the block drops 0.130 m before momentarily coming to rest, afterwhich it moves back upward.(a) What is the spring constant of the spring?(b) Find the angular frequency of the block's vibrations.

###### FREE Expert Solution

In this problem, we're going to use the law of conservation of energy.

It states that the initial potential energy is equal to the energy stored in the spring.

$\overline{){\mathbf{m}}{\mathbf{g}}{\mathbf{x}}{\mathbf{=}}\frac{\mathbf{1}}{\mathbf{2}}{\mathbf{k}}{{\mathbf{x}}}^{{\mathbf{2}}}}$, where m is mass, x is spring compression, and k is spring constant.

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###### Problem Details

A spring is hung from the ceiling. A 0.400-kg block is then attached to the free end ofthe spring. When released from rest, the block drops 0.130 m before momentarily coming to rest, afterwhich it moves back upward.
(a) What is the spring constant of the spring?
(b) Find the angular frequency of the block's vibrations.