A student plots the total mechanical energy of a spring–mass oscillator on the…

PHYSICS · Single correct · AP · Physics 1: Algebra-based · Oscillations · Oscillations

Problem

A student plots the total mechanical energy

E

of a spring–mass oscillator on the vertical axis versus the square of its amplitude

A^2

on the horizontal axis. The resulting plot is a straight line through the origin. Which quantity is represented by the slope of this line? (a)

2k

(b)

\tfrac{1}{2}k

(c)

k

(d)

\tfrac{k}{4}