In the xy-coordinate system, a 1 kg mass is attached to one end of a massless ideal spring. The other end of the spring is fixed at the origin. The spring constant is k=10 N/m, and the spring's unstretched length is 1 m.
The mass is initially being held in the air horizontally at (x,y)=(1 m,0 m), and then is released so that gravity pulls it downwards. How far is the mass from the origin right at the moment it first crosses the (vertical) y-axis?
Details and Assumptions:
- Give your answer in meters, to 2 decimal places.
- There is an ambient downward gravitational acceleration of 10 m/s2.
- For the sake of this problem, assume that the spring can be stretched to great lengths.