# A runaway railroad car with mass 3.0 \times 10^5 kg coasts across a level track at 2.0 m/s when...

## Question:

A runaway railroad car with mass {eq}3.0 \times 10^5 {/eq} kg coasts across a level track at 2.0 m/s when it collides elastically with a spring-loaded bumper at the end of the track. If the spring constant of the bumper is {eq}2.0 \times 10^6 {/eq} N/m, what is the maximum compression of the spring during the collision?

## Compression of Spring:

It requires some work to compress a spring, and this work stores in the spring as potential energy. That's why spring can be a good shock absorber. The railroad car hit the spring with some kinetic energy, and then the kinetic energy stored in the spring as potential energy.

Become a Study.com member to unlock this answer! Create your account

The spring compresses maximum when all of the kinetic energy transferred to the spring.

Using the conservation of energy we can say, change in the...

Practice Applying Spring Constant Formulas

from

Chapter 17 / Lesson 11
3.4K

In this lesson, you'll have the chance to practice using the spring constant formula. The lesson includes four problems of medium difficulty involving a variety of real-life applications.