- #1
bballcool34
- 4
- 0
Here's the question:
Two children are playing a game in which they try to hit a small box on the floor with a marble fired from a spring-loaded gun that is mounted on a table. The target box is horizontal distance D = 2.20 m from the edge of the table. Bobby compresses the spring 1.1 cm, but the center of the marble falls .27 m short of the center of the box. How far should Rondo compress the spring to score a direct hit? (assume that neither spring nor ball encounters friction).
I know the general gist of how to solve the problem---Find spring potential energy of Bobby, set that equal to K, and do the same for Rhonda. However, I don't understand WHY I'm supposed to do this. Why does spring potential energy = KE in this problem? If anyone could explain it to me, that'd be great:
Two children are playing a game in which they try to hit a small box on the floor with a marble fired from a spring-loaded gun that is mounted on a table. The target box is horizontal distance D = 2.20 m from the edge of the table. Bobby compresses the spring 1.1 cm, but the center of the marble falls .27 m short of the center of the box. How far should Rondo compress the spring to score a direct hit? (assume that neither spring nor ball encounters friction).
I know the general gist of how to solve the problem---Find spring potential energy of Bobby, set that equal to K, and do the same for Rhonda. However, I don't understand WHY I'm supposed to do this. Why does spring potential energy = KE in this problem? If anyone could explain it to me, that'd be great: