What is the height of the platform?
A 45.2 kg circus performer jumps from a platform into a safety net below. The net, which has a force constant of 2.8 × 104 N/m, is stretched by 1.19 m. If the unstretched net is positioned 0.65 m above the ground, what is the height of the platform? Ignore the effects of air resistance
A 45.2 kg circus performer jumps from a platform into a safety net below. The net, which has a force constant of 2.8 × 104 N/m, is stretched by 1.19 m. If the unstretched net is positioned 0.65 m above the ground, what is the height of the platform? Ignore the effects of air resistance
2 Answers
I tried this BUT I suspect there is something wrong...If the net is placed at
Explanation:
I would use conservation of Mechanical Energy between the initial jumping position A and the final position B inside the safety net at maximum extension.
A 45.2 kg circus performer jumps from a platform into a safety net below. The net, which has a force constant of 2.8 × 104 N/m, is stretched by 1.19 m. If the unstretched net is positioned 0.65 m above the ground, what is the height of the platform? Ignore the effects of air resistance
Let's use energy! If you haven't learned it yet, this can be done with forces, it's just much more work in my opinion.
The initial energy of the performer is just
The final energy is
From there, we can equate energies and get the following:
so, plugging in numbers
which is our initial height relative the ground.