A small glider is placed against a compressed spring at the bottom of an air tra

Question

A small glider is placed against a compressed spring at the bottom of an air track that slopes upward at an angle of 47.0 above the horizontal. The glider has mass 7.00×102 kg . The spring has 620 N/m and negligible mass. When the spring is released, the glider travels a maximum distance of 1.40 m along the air track before sliding back down. Before reaching this maximum distance, the glider loses contact with the spring.

A)What distance was the spring originally compressed?

B) What is the kinetic energy of the glider at this point?

Explanation / Answer

A) glider reaches to maximum height of 1.40 m .

PE at this point = mgh = mg L sin47

PE = 7 x 10^-2 x 9.8 x 1.40 x sin47 = 0.702 J

this energy was converted from spring potential energy.

0.702 = kx^2 / 2

0.702 = 620x^2 /2

x = 0.0476 m

B) KE at highest point = 0

KE at the point where it loses its contact with spring

     = initial spring energy - gravitational PE

   = 0.702 - (7 x 10^-2 x 9.8 x 0.0476 x sin47)

= 0.679 J

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