Question

As a 16,000 kg jet plane lands on an aircraft carrier, it’s tail hook snags a cable to slow it down. The cable is attached to a spring with spring constant 6.0 x 10⁴ N/m.

(a) If the spring stretches 32 m to stop the plane, what was its landing speed.

（b) A second, identical plane, attempts to land with the same speed, but when the spring is stretched halfway, to only 16 m, a defect causes the cable to snap. What speed had the plane slowed to before the cable broke?

Answer 1