Question

A 200 g air-track glider is attached to a spring. The glider is pushed in 9.8 cm against the spring, then released. A student with a stopwatch finds that 12 oscillations take 15.0 s. Part A What is the spring constant

Answer 1

Answer:

k =  5.05 N/m

Explanation:

In order to calculate the spring mass of the system, you use the following formula:

$T=2\pi \sqrt{\frac{m}{k}}$     (1)

T: period of oscillation of the system

m: mass of the air-track glider = 200g = 0.200 kg

k: spring constant = ?

You first calculate the period of oscillation:

$T=\frac{1}{f}=\frac{1}{12/15.0s}=1.25s$

Next, you solve the equation (1) for k, and then you replace the values of the other parmateres:

$k=4\pi^2 \frac{m}{T^2}\\\\k=4\pi^2 \frac{0.200kg}{(1.25s)^2}=5.05\frac{N}{m}$

The spring constant of the spring is 5.05 N/m