A spring with a spring constant of 50 N/m is attached to a mass of 2 kg. The spring-mass system is stretched 1 m from the equilibrium position and released.
Calculate the maximum velocity of the mass when the spring returns to the equilibrium position. Confirm v = 5 m/s.
b. At x = 0.5 m, is the amount of kinetic energy equal to the elastic potential energy? Calculate the kinetic energy at x = 0.5 m and calculate the spring potential energy to prove.
c. Calculate spring potential energy at x = 0, x = 0.25, x = 0.75, and x = 1.0 and plot a graph of U(y) vs x.
d. On the graph above, sketch another line for the kinetic energy of the system.
e. Why isn't the elastic potential energy equal to kinetic energy at a position x = 0.5 m?