Table Pendulum
Simple Harmonic Motion and Elasticity, please help (trouble in physics)?
Simple harmonic motion may no be so simple...
In principle, the motion of a simple pendulum and an object on an ideal spring can both be used to provide the basic time interval or period used in a clock. Which of the two kinds of clocks is likely to become more inaccurate when carried to the top of a high mountain? Justify your answer.
A 15kg block rests on a horizontal table and is attached to one end of a massless, horizontal spring. By pulling horizontally on the other end of the spring, someone causes the block to accelerate uniformly and reach a speed of 5m/s in .5 seconds. In the process, the spring is stretched by only .05m. Find (a) the spring constant of the spring and (b) the coefficient of kinetic friction between the block and the table.
1) The pendulum clock's period of vibration is 2π√(L/g). Any change in g will therefore affect the period. The spring/mass clock's period is 2π√(m/k); g is not a factor here, so it will be much more accurate at altitude.
2) a = F/m → (5/.5) = .05k/15 - µ*g
and conservation of momentum gives
10*m = F*t → 10*15 = (.05k - µg)*.5
Solve these 2 eqs for k & µ............