A student drops a 0.02 N coin from a 4 meter high window onto a spring with a constant of 0.01 N/cm. How far is the spring depressed? Neglect air resistance.

Question

anonymous · Answer

We can apply the principle of conservation of energy.  You start out with the coin having gravitational potential energy:  P_g = mgh
But after the coin falls and compresses the spring, all that energy has been turned into elastic potential energy:  P_s = 1/2  * k * x^2   where x is the distance the spring has compressed or stretched.

anonymous · Answer

and k is the spring constant.