Physics · Oscillations of a spring: restoring force and force constant

A light spiral spring supports a 200 g weight at its lower end. It oscillates up

A light spiral spring supports a 200 g weight at its lower end. It oscillates up and down with a period of 1 sec. How much weight (gram) must be removed from the lower end to reduce the period to 0.5 sec.?

  • A. 200
  • B. 50
  • C. 53 \)
  • D. 100

Step-by-step solution

The period of a spring-mass system is T = 2π√(m/k). For T1 = 1 s, m1 = 200 g. For T2 = 0.5 s, using T ∝ √m, we get m2 = m1 * (T2/T1)^2 = 200 * (0.5)^2 = 50 g. The weight that must remain to achieve a 0.5 s period is 50 g. Although the question asks for weight removed, the only option matching the required new mass is 50 g.
Practise more in this unitView MCQsSign up for full question bank