Chapter 8, Problem 15PCE

BIO Mantis Shrimp Smasher A peacock mantis shrimp smashes its prey with a hammer-like appendage by storing energy in a spring-like section of exoskeleton on its appendage. The spring has a force constant of 5.9 × 10⁴N/m. (a) If the spring stores 0.0103 J of energy, over what distance must the shrimp compress it? (b) What power does the shrimp generate if it unleashes the energy in 0.0018 s? (The power per mass of the shrimp appendage is more than 20 times greater than that generated by muscle alone, showcasing the shrimp’s ability to harness the potential energy of its spring.)