Back to 8.5 Sources of Energy

8.5 Exercise 22

Avg difficulty 2.5

A mysterious force acts on all particles along a particular line and always points towards a particular point P on the line. The magnitude of the force on a particle increases as the cube of the distance from that point; that is F∞r3F \infty r^{3}, if the distance from P to the position of the particle is r. Let b be the proportionality constant, and write the magnitude of the force as F=br3F = b r^{3}. Find the potential energy of a particle subjected to this force when the particle is at a distance D from P, assuming the potential energy to be zero when the particle is at P.

OpenStax University Physics Volume 1, 8.5 Sources of Energy, exercise 22

AI Tutor

Adapted from University Physics Volume 1 © 2016 Rice University. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Source: University Physics Volume 1. Imported at revision db44eb9.