Recent content by flinnbella

No, that can't be right. F K1 would be directed upward, not downwards, because the spring will be stretched downwards, and so FK1 will apply a restoring force upwards.

Why does spring 2 exert same force on spring 1? I don't think those are force action-reaction pairs.

I don't see why the springs both exert a force of the mass. Spring 2 exerts a force because it's attached, but spring 1 isn't directly connected to the mass so how can it apply a force to the mass? Makes no sense.

1/keq = (k1 + k2)/(k1*k2)

Oh this makes some more sense, not 100% understanding but it helps. How did you make the graphic?

k1*k2/(k1 + k2)

I got k_1+k_2/(k_1 + k_2) = k_eq. So I have the forces in terms of k1, k2.

Ok I get that the total displacement of the mass is delta_x + delta_y, and this can be represented by a single spring instead of two. However, I don't see a relationship between the spring constants.

I don't see why we are trying to find this F_eq.

Ok, so k_1*delta_x = k_2*delta_y = k_eq*(delta_x + delta_y).

deltay1 + deltay2 is the total displacement, so deltayeq is the same as their sum

Ok. So the restoring force of each spring is equal. Then what? We don't know the displacement of each spring.

I solved for the parallel case a while ago, I understand how the displacements are the same, and thus the net force is the same as the sum of all the spring forces; however, I don't see something similar for the ones in series

Does that mean the restoring force of the spring have to equal the force of the weight? But the equal and opposite reaction for the weight is gravity pulling on it. I don't know what the equal and opposite force for the restoring force of the spring is though.

Is there a single spring that can replace the two springs? Isn't there a force between the springs as well, so how can a single spring account for that?