The elastic potential energy

Question

A spring with 450 J of EPE has a spring constant of 100 N/m. How far must the spring be stretched?

1. 
   

Answer 1

First, let us review the EPE equation:

EPE = (1/2)kx²

where k is the spring constant and x is the distance. The problems asks us to solve for distance, x, given that we know the EPE is 450 J and the spring constant is 100 N/m. We will rearrange the equation as follows:

x = √((2EPE)/k)

and solve for x while substituting in the known values:

x = √((2(450)/100) = 3

The spring has to be stretched 3 meters.