Physics (Essay) Paper 2 WASSCE (PC), 2018

Question 1

 

 

 

A block of mass 4 kg is released from rest above a spiral spring with force constant 900 Nm-1. The block hits and compresses the spring as illustrated in the diagram above. Calculate the compression of the spring (g = 10 ms-2)

 

Observation

 

This questions was quite popular among candidates. Most candidates performed poorly due to inability to state the correct formula for the problem. is the time of flight of the ball. Performance was low.

The expected response is as stated below:

            mgh =  ke2
4 x 10 x 1.0 =   x 900 x e2 e = 0.298 m