PASSAGE I
The stiffness of a spring is a measure of the
spring’s resistance to deformation. The higher the
stiffness value of a spring, the “stiffer” it is and the
more resistant it is to deformation (stretching or
compressing) when acted upon by a force.
Students in a high school physics class performed
two experiments with 4 different springs.
Experiment 1
The students mounted the first large spring
to the inside of an open wooden box. (When
compared to the mass of the box, the mass of the
spring is negligible.) When the students dropped
the box to the classroom floor, the spring
compressed and then extended, launching the box
upward as illustrated in Figure 1 below.
Figure 1
The students performed trials with 4
identical boxes mounted with springs of different
stiffness. Each box was dropped from a height of
1.5 meters above the classroom floor. The students
recorded the maximum height reached by the box
on its first bounce off the floor. The results are set
forth in Table 1.
Table 1
Trial Spring Maximum Height (m)
1
2
3
4 W
X
Y
Z 0.4
0.7
0.5
0.3
Experiment 2
The students then took each one of the 4
boxes from Experiment 1 and placed it on the
classroom floor as shown in Figure 2 below. After
measuring the distance from the floor to the end of
the spring, the students placed a brick on the spring
and again measured the distance from the floor to
the end of the spring. The results are set forth in
Table 2.
Figure 2
Table 2
Spring Height without
Brick
(m) Height with
Brick
(m)
W
X
Y
Z 0.83
0.83
0.83
0.83 0.44
0.79
0.56
0.31
Based on Tables 1 and 2, it is reasonable to
conclude that, on the first bounce, the spring
that experienced the greatest compression in
Experiment 2 caused its wooden box in
Experiment 1 to bounce:
F.
the highest.
G.
in between the highest and the lowest.
H.
the lowest.
J.
exactly as high as one other box