AP Physics Mr. Brooks 12/19/2012 Simple Harmonic Motion I 1. A spring is hung from the ceiling, and an object attached to its lower end stretches the spring
by a distance of 5.00 cm from its unstretched position when the system is in equilibrium. If
the spring constant is 47.5 N/m, determine the mass of the object.
0.242 kg
2. An archer must exert a force of 375 N on a bowstring in order to pull it back until the
bowstring makes an angle of 35.0° with the vertical. (a) Determine the tension in the
bowstring. (b) If the applied force is replaced with a spring, and the spring is stretched
30.0 cm from its unstretched length, what is the spring constant?
a.) 327 N
b.) 1250 N/m
3. An automobile having a mass of 1000 kg is driven into a brick wall in a safety test. The
bumper behaves like a spring with constant 5.00 x 106 N/m and is compressed 3.16 cm as the
car is brought to rest. What was the speed of the car before impact, assuming that no energy
is lost in the collision with the wall?
2.23 m/s
4. A simple harmonic oscillator has a total energy E. (a) Determine the kinetic and potential
energies when the displacement is one-half the amplitude. (b) For what value of the
displacement does the kinetic energy equal the potential energy?
a.) PEs = E/4 KE = 3E/4
b.) A/(2)1/2
5. A 1.50 kg block at rest on a tabletop is attached to a horizontal spring having a constant
19.6 N/m. The spring is initially unstretched. A constant 20.0 N force is then applied to the
object, causing the spring to stretch. (a) Determine the speed of the block after it has moved
0.300 m from equilibrium if the surface between the block and the tabletop is frictionless. (b)
Answer part (a) if the coefficient of kinetic friction between the block and the tabletop is
0.200.
a.) 2.61 m/s
b.) 2.38 m/s
6. A 10.0 g bullet is fired into, and imbeds itself in, a 2.00 kg block attached to a spring with a
force constant of 19.6 N/m and whose mass in negligible. How far is the spring compressed
if the bullet has a speed of 300 m/s just before it strikes the block?
0.478 m