Question

You have a lightweight spring whose unstretched length is 4.0 cm. First, you attach one end of the spring to the ceiling and hang a 1.8 g mass from it. This stretches the spring to a length of 5.1 cm . You then attach two small plastic beads to the opposite ends of the spring, lay the spring on a frictionless table, and give each plastic bead the same charge. This stretches the spring to a length of 4.3 cm .
Requried:
What is the magnitude of the charge (in nC) on each bead?

Answer 1

Answer:

2.2nC

Explanation:

Call the amount by which the spring’s unstretched length L,

the amount it stretches while hanging x1

and the amount it stretches while on the table x2.

Combining Hooke’s law with Newton’s second law, given that the stretched spring is not accelerating,

we have mg−kx1 =0, or k = mg /x1 , where k is the spring constant. On the other hand,

applying Coulomb’s law to the second part tells us ke q2/ (L+x2)2 − kx2 = 0 or q2 = kx2(L+x2)2/ke,

where ke is the Coulomb constant. Combining these,

we get q = √(mgx2(L+x2)²/x1ke =2.2nC