Motion of a mass on a spring suspended vertically

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on calculating the spring constant for a spring made from a steel/titanium alloy when a 500 g mass is suspended from it, resulting in an oscillation period of 1.00 seconds. The system mass is determined to be approximately 516.67 g, which includes one-third of the spring's mass. The relevant formula used is T^2 = (4π²m)/k, leading to the rearranged equation k = 4π²/T². The calculated spring constant is approximately 20397.82 N/m.

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brayrbob
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Okay I have part of this problem right but am not sure how to proceed on the last part.

A 50 g spring is made from a new steel/titanium alloy. Engineers determine that if a 500 g mass is hung from the spring it oscillates with a period of exactly 1.00 seconds. What is the spring's constant?
Equation used is = system mass = hanging mass + (1/3) spring mass
system mass = 500 + (1/3)50 = 516.6666667
Now I have to use the equation Period^2 = 4pi^2 system mass/spring constant.
I have to solve for mass and don't know how to turn this last equation around.
 
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You start with this:
[tex]T^2 = \frac{4 \pi^2 m}{k}[/tex]

To solve for the spring constant, try this: First multiply both sides by [itex]k[/itex], then divide both sides by [itex]T^2[/itex]. That will isolate k.
 
So then that equation should be k = 4pi^2/T^2?

4pi^2(516.6666667)/1.00^2 = 20397.8243 is the spring constant?
 

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