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Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Spring Problems and the use of Energy

Springs provide a nice example of NON-constant force. We know Hooke's law, F = -kx, where x is the displacement of the spring from its equilibrium position. Keep in mind the - sign is for direction: the force always tries to bring a spring back to equilibrium, which is in the opposite direction relative to the direction of the displacement (a point of stable equilibrium). Here are examples of using energy conservation to solve spring problems.

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