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HETAV PATEL

Grade 11,

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why there is a negaive sign in work done by potential enrgy of a spring

why there is a negaive sign in work done by potential enrgy of a spring

Grade:10

1 Answers

Suraj Prasad IIT Patna
askIITians Faculty 286 Points
9 years ago
I think the problem is in the calculation of your work.
The potential energy of the spring is U = 1/2 k x^2 from which you can determine the spring constant.Note that potential energy of a spring is always non-negative.

The work you are doing to stretch the spring is getting stored in the spring as potential energy. I.e. you are doing work on the block so if you let W be the work done by the spring on the block then U = -W (you are adding energy to the spring while W is like energy released by the spring in the process).

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