The shock absorbers on a car are broken, so the 1560-kg car body oscillates free

Question

The shock absorbers on a car are broken, so the 1560-kg car body oscillates freely atop the four identical springs attached to the axel.  Each spring has spring constant 1.30 x 105 N/m.  Four people of identical mas simultaneously get into the car.  This causes the  car to oscillate vertically with a period of 0.370s.  Determine the mass of each passenger.  Assume that the combined total mass of the car and passengers is distributed evenly over the springs.  (Hint: look at how each mass is supported by the single spring.)

Thanks for your help, it is greatly appreciated!

Explanation / Answer

So, I googled "period of a spring" and got the following equation:
T=2(m/k)

They gave you the peiod T (0.370 s) and the spring constant k. Plug them into the equation and solve for m. That tells you how much mass EACH spring is carrying. If you multiply that by 4, you'll get the total mass of the car plus the four people. Subtract out the mass of the car, then divide by 4 to get the mass of each person.

Hope this helps!

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse T
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.