15.2 Energy in Simple Harmonic Motion

Why would it hurt more if you snapped your hand with a ruler than with a loose spring, even if the displacement of each system is equal?

Identify one way you could decrease the maximum velocity of a simple harmonic oscillator.

Describe a system in which elastic potential energy is stored.

The temperature of the atmosphere oscillates from a maximum near noontime and a minimum near sunrise. Would you consider the atmosphere to be in stable or unstable equilibrium?

It is weigh-in time for the local under-85-kg rugby team. The bathroom scale used to assess eligibility can be described by Hooke’s law and is depressed 0.75 cm by its maximum load of 120 kg. (a) What is the spring’s effective force constant? (b) A player stands on the scales and depresses it by 0.48 cm. Is he eligible to play on this under-85-kg team?

When an 80.0-kg man stands on a pogo stick, the spring is compressed 0.120 m. (a) What is the force constant of the spring? (b) Will the spring be compressed more when he hops down the road?

The length of nylon rope from which a mountain climber is suspended has an effective force constant of $1.40 \times 10^{4} \text{N}/\text{m}$. (a) What is the frequency at which he bounces, given his mass plus and the mass of his equipment are 90.0 kg? (b) How much would this rope stretch to break the climber’s fall if he free-falls 2.00 m before the rope runs out of slack? (Hint: Use conservation of energy.) (c) Repeat both parts of…