Answer:
the natural length of the spring is 9 cm
Explanation:
let the natural length of the spring = L
For each of the work done, we set up an integral equation;
[tex]5.4 = \int\limits^{21-l}_{15-l} {kx} \, dx \\\\5.4 = [\frac{1}{2}kx^2 ]^{21-l}_{15-l}\\\\5.4 = \frac{k}{2} [(21-l)^2 - (15-l)^2]\\\\k = \frac{2(5.4)}{(21-l)^2 - (15-l)^2} \ \ \ -----(1)[/tex]
The second equation of work done is set up as follows;
[tex]9 = \int\limits^{27-l}_{21-l} {kx} \, dx \\\\9 = [\frac{1}{2}kx^2 ]^{27-l}_{21-l}\\\\9 = \frac{k}{2} [(27-l)^2 - (21-l)^2] \\\\k = \frac{2(9)}{(27-l)^2 - (21-l)^2} \ \ \ -----(2)[/tex]
solve equation (1) and equation (2) together;
[tex]\frac{2(9)}{(27-l)^2 - (21-l)^2} = \frac{2(5.4)}{(21-l)^2 - (15-l)^2}\\\\\frac{2(9)}{2(5.4)} = \frac{(27-l)^2 - (21-l)^2}{(21-l)^2 - (15-l)^2}\\\\\frac{9}{5.4} = \frac{(729 - 54l+ l^2) - (441-42l+ l^2)}{(441-42l+ l^2) - (225 -30l+ l^2)} \\\\\frac{9}{5.4 } = \frac{288-12l}{216-12l} \\\\\frac{9}{5.4 } =\frac{12}{12} (\frac{24-l}{18 -l})\\\\\frac{9}{5.4 } = \frac{24-l}{18 -l}\\\\9(18-l) = 5.4(24-l)\\\\162-9l = 129.6-5.4l\\\\162-129.6 = 9l - 5.4 l\\\\32.4 = 3.6 l\\\\l = \frac{32.4}{3.6} \\\\[/tex]
[tex]l = 9 \ cm[/tex]
Therefore, the natural length of the spring is 9 cm
