Describe potential energy as a property of a system’s configuration and connect it to conservative interactions and the chosen zero-energy reference.
A block of mass M is released from rest at position x=0 near the top of a ramp. The ramp
makes an angle of with the horizontal. The block slides down the ramp with negligible
friction. At x=8 D the block makes contact with an uncompressed spring with spring
constant k. The spring is then compressed and the block momentarily comes to rest at x=12 D.
Figure 1 shows the instants when the block is at x=0, x=6 D, and x=10 D, respectively.
Figure 6 shows a graph of the energy of the system as a function of the position of the block
from x=8 D to x=12 D. The spring potential energy of the block-spring-Earth system is
shown on the graph.
On the axes shown in Figure 6, do the following.
Sketch and label a line or curve that represents the gravitational potential energy for
the block-spring-Earth system as a function of the position of the block from x=8 D
to x=12 D.
Figure 6