Question

A railway wagon of mass 5 metric tons moving at $36km/h$ collides with the buffer springs in the yard and comes to stop. If the spring constant of the buffer is $75\times {10}^{4}N/m$, Find the maximum compression of the buffer spring.

Answer 1

$M_{wagon}=5MT$

$U=36km/hr=10m/s$

$K=75\times {10}^{4}N/M$

K.E f wagon=$\frac{1}{2}5\times {10}^3\times 100$

$=25\times {10}^{4}J$

K.E loss=gain in P.E

$25\times {10}^{4}J=\frac{1}{2}\times 75\times {10}^4\times x^2$

$x=\sqrt{\frac{2}{3}}M=0.8M$