A spring with a constant of #4 (kg)/s^2# is lying on the ground with one end attached to a wall. An object with a mass of #8 kg# and speed of #4 m/s# collides with and compresses the spring until it stops moving. How much will the spring compress?

1 Answer
Mar 26, 2017

The spring will compress by #=5.66m#

Explanation:

Mass of the object is #m=8kg#

Speed of the object is #v=4ms^-1#

The kinetic energy of the object is

#KE=1/2mv^2=1/2*8*4^2=64J#

This energy will be stored in the spring

#E=1/2kx^2#

Thre spring constant is #k=4kgs^-2#

Therefore,

#64=1/2*4*x^2#

#x^2=64/2=32m^2#

#x=sqrt32=5.66m#