An object is attached to a spring and experiences a restoring force of 50 N. The spring constant is found to be 150 N/m. How far was the object displaced from equilibrium?
To find how far the object was displaced from equilibrium, we can use Hooke's law, which states that the force exerted by a spring is directly proportional to the displacement from equilibrium.
Hooke's law can be expressed as:
F = -kx
Where:
F is the force exerted by the spring
k is the spring constant
x is the displacement from equilibrium
In this case, we already know the force exerted by the spring (50 N) and the spring constant (150 N/m). We can substitute these values into the equation to find the displacement.
50 N = -150 N/m * x
To solve for x, we can rearrange the equation:
x = -50 N / (-150 N/m)
x = 1/3 m
Therefore, the object was displaced 1/3 meter (or 0.33 meters) from equilibrium.