A compressed spring in a toy is used to launch
a 5.00-gram ball. If the ball leaves the toy with an
initial horizontal speed of 5.00 meters per second,
the minimum amount of potential energy stored
in the compressed spring was
(1) 0.0125 J (3) 0.0625 J
(2) 0.0250 J (4) 0.125 J
If the ball was launched in the horizontal direction, then its total kinetic energy was
(1/2) x (0.005 kg) x (5 m/s)²
= (0.0025 x 25) (kg-m²/sec²)
= 0.0625 Joule .
And that would be the amount of energy stored in the spring.
If the ball was launched at some angle above the horizontal, then it had some vertical speed too. Its total kinetic energy was then some greater number, and there was more energy stored in the spring.
