- #1
zoner7
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Homework Statement
I've attached the problems in a PDF file.
Homework Equations
The Attempt at a Solution
I've honestly made an attempt to all of these problems, and I've simply demonstrated to myself that I have no idea what I'm doing. I already posted part a of the first problem in another thread, so don't worry about that one...
For 1 b I began by calculating the distances for each route, but I'm unsure how to calculate work if I am not given a force. This is a little peculiar, isn't it?
For problem 2 I am a tad puzzled by the force of the spring. Since the spring is not strained, I'm going to have to guess that the force of the spring is completely irrelevant. This would be than gravity is the only force acting on the system.
I then treated gravity as an internal forces, including it as potential energy. But I have too many variables to possible solve force velocity. I have both change in distance as well as velocity, and there does not appear to be another equation that I can use to eliminate a variable.
What should I set the change in energy side of the equation to. I am guessing 0... But I can't understand why work would be zero. It makes sense that the change in energy is 0, because KE increases at the same rate that PE decreases, but there is only one force, and it does act over some distance on the mass. Wouldn't this imply a net work?
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