Question

A 0.5kg cart connected to light spring for which the force constant is 20 Nm on horizontal frictionless air track. Calculate the total energy of the system and the maximum speed of the cart if the amplitude of the motion is 3.0cm

Answer 1

Use Hooke's law:
PE=1/2kx^2
=1/2*20*0.03^2
total energy=0.009 J
Next, use kinetic energy formula:
KE=1/2mv^2
v=sqrt(2KE/m)
=sqrt(2*.009/.5)
velocity=0.190 m/s

Answer 2

^(Hooke's law modified for potential energy)