Confused about conservation of energy

[Toliver96]

Why is it that when you drop something on a spring, that item dropped on the spring does not bounce back up to where you dropped it from?

 

[russ_watters]

Springs are not perfectly elastic, so some energy is "lost". Can you guess where it might go?

 

[Toliver96]

Would it turn into heat and sound energy?

 

[Drakkith]

Would it turn into heat and sound energy?

Yep!

 

[PJC01]

The conservation of energy is a fundamental principle in physics which states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, but only transferred or transformed from one form to another. In the case of dropping something on a spring, the potential energy of the object is converted into kinetic energy as it falls towards the spring. When the object collides with the spring, the kinetic energy is transferred to the spring, causing it to compress. However, due to the nature of the spring, it exerts an equal and opposite force on the object, causing it to come to a stop and lose its kinetic energy. This energy is then transformed into elastic potential energy in the spring, causing it to rebound and return to its original position. The reason the object does not bounce back up to where it was dropped from is because some of the energy is lost due to friction and other factors, resulting in a decrease in the overall energy of the system. This decrease in energy results in the object not being able to fully return to its original position. Therefore, the conservation of energy is still upheld in this scenario, as the total energy of the system remains constant.