Question

A vertical spring with a spring constant value of 4500 N/m is compressed 60 cm. A 5.5 kg pumpkin is placed on the end of the spring, and the spring is released. To the nearest whole number, the pumpkin will rise m. ?

Answer 1

The answer is 15, I just took the Review.

Answer 2

15.0 m

Explanation:

We can solve the problem by using the law of conservation of energy.

At the beginning, all the energy of the system is stored in the elastic potential energy of the compressed spring, which is given by

$E=\frac{1}{2}kx^2=\frac{1}{2}(4500 N/m)(0.60 m)^2=810 J$

When the spring is released, the pumpkin of mass m=5.5 kg is pushed upwards. All the energy is then converted into gravitational potential energy of the pumpkin when it reaches its maximum height h:

$E=mgh$

Re-arranging the equation, we can find h:

$h=\frac{E}{mg}=\frac{810 J}{(5.5 kg)(9.8 m/s^2)}=15.0 m$