A toy car of mass m is pushed along a frictionless track so that it is moving at a speed v1. It hits a spring with stiffness k at the end of the track causing the spring to compress. What is the maximum compression x of the spring? By conservation of energy, K1 + U1 = K2 + U2 Some of the terms in the equation above are zero; thus it can be simplified to: ½m 2 = ½ Isolating the compression x, x = ( 2, 1/2 Suppose the mass of the toy car moving at 2.5 m/s is 0.0505 kg and the spring constant is k = 605 N/m, the spring will experience a maximum compression of 0.0 84 m.

A toy car of mass m is pushed along a frictionless track so that it is moving at a speed v1. It hits a spring with stiffness k at the end of the track causing the spring to compress. What is the maximum compression x of the spring? By conservation of energy, K1 + U1 = K2 + U2 Some of the terms in the equation above are zero; thus it can be simplified to: ½m 2 = ½ Isolating the compression x, x = ( 2, 1/2 Suppose the mass of the toy car moving at 2.5 m/s is 0.0505 kg and the spring constant is k = 605 N/m, the spring will experience a maximum compression of 0.0 84 m.