This question is incomplete, the complete question is;
A rifle fires a 2.10 × 10⁻² kg pellet straight upward, because the pellet rests on a compressed spring that is released when the trigger is pulled. The spring has a negligible mass and is compressed by 9.10 × 10⁻² m from its unstrained length. The pellet rises to a maximum height of 6.10 m above its position on the compressed spring. Ignoring air resistance, determine the spring constant.
Answer:
the spring constant is 303.5 N/m
Explanation:
Given the data in the question;
There is a potential energy associated with the spring;
we know that potential energy = kinetic energy
mgh = [tex]\frac{1}{2}[/tex]kx²
where k is the spring constant and x is the compression
as the pallet is fired, the spring gives kinetic energy which is converted into gravitational potential energy
so
m = 2.10 × 10⁻²
g = 9.81 m/s²
h = 6.10 m
x = 9.10 × 10⁻² m
we substitute
mgh = [tex]\frac{1}{2}[/tex]kx²
2.10 × 10⁻² × 9.81 × 6.10 = [tex]\frac{1}{2}[/tex] × K × ( 9.10 × 10⁻² )²
1.256661 = 0.0041405 × K
K = 1.256661 / 0.0041405
K = 303.5 N/m
Therefore, the spring constant is 303.5 N/m
