If a 40 kg brick and a 400 kg brick each dropped from 1 m above a trampoline, find the lowest position of each brick. Assume the trampoline is a simple spring obeying Hooke's law with a k value of 12 000 N/m.

Question

So, I used
mg(h+x)=1/2 k x^2
then solved for x in each case.

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Bob, could you please tell me how you came up with this eq'n? Like, what evergies you started with?

Answer 1

Potential energy of the brick lost as it fell a height from the trampoline and deformed it x meters.
mg(h+x).
2) Potential energy stored in the deformed trampoline. 1/2 k (x^2)
set them equal.