A 1.3 g spider is dangling at the end of a silk thread. You can make the spider bounce up and down on the thread by tapping lightly on his feet with a pencil. You soon discover that you can give the spider the largest amplitude on his little bungee cord if you tap exactly once every 3 seconds.

Question

A 1.3 g spider is dangling at the end of a silk thread. You can make the spider bounce up and down on the thread by tapping lightly on his feet with a pencil. You soon discover that you can give the spider the largest amplitude on his little bungee cord if you tap exactly once every 3 seconds.
What is the approximate spring constant of the silk thread?

bobpursley · Answer

Isn't f=1/2PI * sqrt(k/M) f, of course, is 1/period