Question

A basket of negligible weight hangs from a vertical spring scale of force constant 1500 n/m . if you suddenly put an adobe brick of mass 3.00 kg in the basket, find the maximum distance that the spring will stretch.

Answer 1

Refer to the diagram shown below.

k = 1500 N/m, the spring constant
W = (3 kg)*(9.8 m/s²) = 29.4 N, the weight of the brick

Let d = the deflection of the spring.
By definition,
W = k*d
d = (29.4 N)/(1500 N/m) = 0.0196 m

Answer: 0.0196 m

Answer 2

The maximum distance the spring will stretch is 3.92 cm or 0.0392 m.