A spring with a spring constant of 50 N/m is compressed from its natural position by 1 cm. Calculate the work done by the spring force on the object…

Question

A spring with a spring constant of 50 N/m is compressed from its natural position by 1 cm. Calculate the work done by the spring force on the object compressing the spring.

Answer 1

A spring with a spring constant of 50 N/m is compressed from its natural position by 1 cm. Calculate the work done by the spring force on the object compressing the spring.

5 × 10⁻³ J
2.5 × 10⁻³ J ✓
5 × 10⁻² J
2.5 × 10⁻² J

Explanation

The energy stored in a spring is ½kx². This equals the size of the work done in compressing it.

x = 1 cm = 0.01 m, k = 50 N/m.

W = ½ × 50 × (0.01)² = 25 × 10⁻⁴ = 2.5 × 10⁻³ J.

Strictly, the spring force acts against the compression, so its work is negative. The size of the work is 2.5 × 10⁻³ J.

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