How Much Work Is Needed to Compress a Spring?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on calculating the work done to compress a spring with a spring constant of 87 N/m over a distance of 0.086 m. The correct formula to use is WC = 1/2 * k * d^2, where k is the spring constant and d is the distance compressed. The user initially miscalculated the work as 1.286904 J by incorrectly multiplying by 2 instead of 1/2, leading to confusion. The accurate calculation yields a work done of 0.32 J.

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Homework Statement


A spring, with a spring constant of 87 N/m, was compressed a distance of 8.6cm (0.086m). How much work was done in order to compress the spring?


Homework Equations


WC=1/2kd^2


The Attempt at a Solution


I tried to plug in the numbers as follows in the above equation - but I can't get the answer out. I have been doing this for ages am like a broken record - pse snap me out of this programming!

WC= 2*87*.086^2 = 1.286904J
Apparently, the correct answer is .32J

Help!
 
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you are off by a factor of 4
you multiplied by 2
maybe you were supposed to multiply by 1/2
 
thanks - I tried to recalculate it this is not the case.
 
Chica1975 said:

Homework Equations


WC=1/2kd^2
According to this equation, you are supposed to multiply kd2 by 1/2, not by 2.
 

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