A 85 kg trampoline artist jumps vertically upward from the top of a platform with a speed of 3.5 m/s.
How fast is he going as he lands on the trampoline, 3.0 m below?
If the trampoline behaves like a spring of spring constant 5.2 x 10^4 N/m, how far does he depress it?
My professor has not discussed any problem similar to this one, so I do not know where to begin. It seems that there is not enough info to solve. We are looking for velocity, but how do we determine the change in distance if we don't know how high he jumped? I would really appreciate help, thanks!!
The total energy he has when he hits is the the initial KE, the gravatational PE he gained.
He will press all that energy into the spring, storing it as 1/2 k x^2.