A bungee cord is 30.0 m long and, when stretched a distance x, it exerts a resto
ID: 647333 • Letter: A
Question
A bungee cord is 30.0 m long and, when stretched a distance x, it exerts a restoring force of magnitude kx. Your father-in-law (mass 97.0kg ) stands on a platform 45.0 m above the ground, and one end of the cord is tied securely to his ankle and the other end to the platform. You have promised him that when he steps off the platform he will fall a maximum distance of only 41.0 m before the cord stops him. You had several bungee cords to select from, and you tested them by stretching them out, tying one end to a tree, and pulling on the other end with a force of 390N .
When you do this, what distance will the bungee cord that you should select have stretched??
Explanation / Answer
Hi..
The distance the cord stretches is 41 - 30 = 11m.
The potential energy of the cord equals the potential energy of the father-in-law.
PE cord is like a spring and equals .5kx^2, where x is 11.
PE father-in-law is due to gravity and equals mgh, where h is 41.
Set the two equal to each other and you can solve for the spring constant k.
The restoring force is modeled by F = kx where F is force, k is the spring constant just found, and x is the distance the bungee cord should stretch. You calculated k and F is given so now you can solve for x.
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