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chipotleaway
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One mass, two springs
If you have a mass attached to a spring which is attached to another spring which both have the same spring constant, why is the force exerted by the two springs on the mass [itex]F=-\frac{1}{2}kx[/itex]?
Is it because when you compare it to a single spring displaced by the same Δx, each spring in the two spring system has only been stretched by half, and they act like a single spring? (not too clear on my reasoning)Two masses, one spring
If two masses are attached on either end of a spring and it's stretched, would the force on each mass be half of what it would if the other end were attached to a wall?
Loaded spring
There's an example in my textbook that presents the following situation: you have a traincar of 1000kg on a spring, it's loaded slowly with a weight of 980N which causes the spring to be compressed by some 0.28m and the system then undergoes simple harmonic motion.
To find the spring constant, they divided the force 980N by the displacement, but doesn't Hooke's law relate the force from the spring on whatever's pulling/pushing it? If the spring pushes back with 980N when displaced by 0.28m, then shouldn't the thing be in equilibrium and not undergo SHO at all?
Thanks
If you have a mass attached to a spring which is attached to another spring which both have the same spring constant, why is the force exerted by the two springs on the mass [itex]F=-\frac{1}{2}kx[/itex]?
Is it because when you compare it to a single spring displaced by the same Δx, each spring in the two spring system has only been stretched by half, and they act like a single spring? (not too clear on my reasoning)Two masses, one spring
If two masses are attached on either end of a spring and it's stretched, would the force on each mass be half of what it would if the other end were attached to a wall?
Loaded spring
There's an example in my textbook that presents the following situation: you have a traincar of 1000kg on a spring, it's loaded slowly with a weight of 980N which causes the spring to be compressed by some 0.28m and the system then undergoes simple harmonic motion.
To find the spring constant, they divided the force 980N by the displacement, but doesn't Hooke's law relate the force from the spring on whatever's pulling/pushing it? If the spring pushes back with 980N when displaced by 0.28m, then shouldn't the thing be in equilibrium and not undergo SHO at all?
Thanks
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