A glider of mass 0.240 kg is on a frictionless, horizontal track, attached to a horizontal spring of force constant 6.00 N/m. In
itially the spring (whose other end is fixed) is stretched by 0.100 m and the attached glider is moving at 0.400 m/s in the direction that causes the spring to stretch farther. What is the total mechanical energy (kinetic energy plus elastic potential energy) of the system?
The mechanical energy of the system will be the kinetic energy plus the elastic potential energy: .
We know that the equation for the kinetic energy is , where <em>m </em>is the mass of the object and <em>v </em>its velocity.
We know that the equation for the elastic potential energy is , where <em>k</em> is the spring constant and the compression (or elongation) respect to equilibrium.