Chapter 8, Problem 50PQ

A jack-in-the-box is actually a system that consists of an object attached to the top of a vertical spring (Fig. P8.50). a. Sketch the energy graph for the potential energy and the total energy of the spring–object system as a function of compression distance x from x = –x_max to x = 0, where –x_max is the maximum amount of compression of the spring. Ignore the change in gravitational potential energy. b. Sketch the kinetic energy of the system between these points— the two distances in part (a)—on the same graph (using a different color).

FIGURE P8.50

Problems 50 and 79