Elastic potential energy and natural length of a spring- relation?

Thread starter Stormzy67
Start date Jul 28, 2019
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Elastic Elastic potential energy Energy Length Natural Potential Potential energy Relation Spring

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The spring constant is inversely proportional to the natural length of a spring, indicating that longer springs have lower spring constants. There is a notable change in extension as springs approach their breaking point. At the point of failure, both strain and force remain consistent across different springs. Understanding these relationships is crucial for analyzing spring behavior under stress. This highlights the importance of strain and force in the study of elastic potential energy.

Jul 28, 2019

Stormzy67

Homework Statement: The question states, a spring of length 0.5m is can be extended by 0.05m before fracturing, storing elastic energy ‘U’. Now, another spring of the same material but of half the length(0.25) is also stretched to its maximum extension.
What will be the new elastic energy in terms of ‘U’?

Relevant Equations: F=kx , E=1/2 kx^2, Young’s modulus?

I figured out that the spring constant is inversely proportional to the natural length, but there’s still an unknown change in a quantity( most likely extension).

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Jul 28, 2019

TSny

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Is there something that’s the same for both springs at the point where they break?

Jul 28, 2019

Stormzy67

The strain?

Jul 28, 2019

Chestermiller

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Stormzy67 said:

The strain?

Yes. Also, the force.

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