The hardest part of the job is to find the right formula to use, and write it down. You've already done that ! The rest is just turning the crank until an answer falls out.
You wrote. E = m g h.
Beautiful.
Now divide each side by (g h), and you'll have the formula for mass:
m = E / (g h).
You know all the numbers on the right side. Just pluggum in, do the arithmetic, and you'll have the mass.
Answer:
64 J
Explanation:
The potential energy change of the spring ∆U = -W where W = work done by force, F.
Now W = ∫F.dx
So, ∆U = - ∫F.dx = - ∫Fdxcos180 (since the spring force and extension are in opposite directions)
∆U = - ∫-Fdx
= ∫F.dx
Since F = 40x - 6x² and x moves from x = 0 to x = 2 m, we integrate thus, ∆U = ∫₀²F.dx
= ∫₀²(40x - 6x²).dx
= ∫₀²(40xdx - 6x²dx)
= ∫₀²(40x²/2 - 6x³/3)
= ∫₀²(20x² - 2x³)
= [20x² - 2x³]₀²
= [(20(2)² - 2(2)³) - (20(0)² - 2(0)³)
= [(20(4) - 2(8)) - (0 - 0))
= [80 - 16 - 0]
= 64 J
Direction. Velocity is a vector that describes both speed and direction, while speed is a scalar that describes only speed regardless of direction.