Question

To simulate car accidents, auto manufactures study the collision of moving cars with mounted springs of different spring constants. Consider a typical simulation with a car of mass 1000 kg moving with a speed of 18.0 km/h on a smooth road and colliding with a horizontally mounted spring of spring constant 6.25 *10^{3} N/m. What is the maximum compression of the spring?

Answer 1

Given,

$\frac{1}{2}\times m\times v^2=\frac{1}{2}\times k\times x^2$

$1000\times 25=6250\times k^2$

$k^2=4$

$\therefore k=2$

Maximum compression of the spring $k=2$