A spring gun is made by compressing a spring (assumed to be perfect) and latching it. A spring of constant k = 60 N/ m is used and the latch is located at a distance of 7 cm from equilibrium. The pellets have mass 4 g. What is the muzzle velocity of the gun?

Answer 1

Assume that (1/2) M V^2 = (1/2) k X^2
which means that all of the spring energy is converted to kinetic energy of the pellet, which has mass 0.004 kg.

The spring compression is X = 0.07 m

V = sqrt(k/M)*X

Answer 2

The drawing shows two transverse waves traveling on two strings. The linear density of each string is 0.0483 kg/m, and the tension is provided by a 15.0-N block that is hanging from the string. Determine the speed of the wave in part (a) and part (b) of the drawing.