kelcijade said:Homework Statement
A person does .02 Joules of work winding a watch. Assuming NO loss of energy to friction, how much energy is stored in the watch's main spring?
Homework Equations
PE=1/2kx^2 ?? I have no idea..
The Attempt at a Solution
I've gotten nowhere trying to do this problem without other information, such as mass or length.
Thank you for looking and helping!
kelcijade said:The unit of energy is just Joules.. Right? Well in this case.
So would it just be a potential energy of .02J since the total work done is calculated by the Newtons of force and meters which they don't give in the problem?
berkeman said:Correct. As Halls alludes to, since there is no energy lost to friction, all of the work has to go into storing potential energy in the spring. Good job!
The stored energy in a wind-up watch is potential energy. This energy is stored when the watch is wound up, and is released slowly over time to power the watch's movement.
A wind-up watch stores energy by having a coiled spring inside that is wound up by turning the crown. As the spring unwinds, it releases energy that is used to power the watch's gears and hands.
The amount of energy a wind-up watch can store varies depending on the watch's design and the strength of the spring. However, on average, a wind-up watch can store enough energy to keep it running for 24-48 hours.
Yes, the stored energy in a wind-up watch can be replenished by winding it up again. As the spring is wound, potential energy is once again stored and can be released to power the watch.
When the stored energy in a wind-up watch runs out, the watch will stop working until it is wound up again. This is because there is no longer potential energy to power the watch's movement.