High School

A 0.217 kg mass is attached to a spring with a spring constant of 122 N/m, allowing the mass to move on a horizontal frictionless surface. The mass is released from rest when the spring is compressed by 0.166 m. Find the maximum force on the mass.

Answer in units of N.

Answer :

Final answer:

Using Hooke's Law, the maximum force on a 0.217 kg mass attached to a spring with a constant of 122 N/m and compressed 0.166 m is found to be 20.252 N.

Explanation:

To find the maximum force on the mass when a 0.217 kg mass is attached to a spring with a spring constant of 122 N/m and released from rest when the spring is compressed 0.166 m, we can use Hooke's Law. Hooke's Law states that the force exerted by a spring is directly proportional to its displacement from the equilibrium position, which is given by the formula F = kx, where F is the force in Newtons (N), k is the spring constant in N/m, and x is the displacement in meters (m).

Substituting the given values:

  • k = 122 N/m
  • x = 0.166 m

The maximum force, F, on the mass is:

F = 122 N/m * 0.166 m = 20.252 N

Therefore, the maximum force on the mass is 20.252 N.