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Re: Elastic potential energy



Does the relaxed position of the spring define a unique origin for a
spring or am I missing something here?

Justin Parke
Yes, it defines the origin from which x must be measured in applying
Hooke's law for the force. It defines the position from which the
elongation x must be measured in evaluating the force F=-kx, which you
then integrate to get the PE - just as you must do when evaluating the
PE associated with an inverse square (electrical or gravitational) force -
the force is evaluated in terms of position from the location of a source
charge - this force may then be integrated between any two points to get
the change in PE.

Bob Sciamanda (W3NLV)
Physics, Edinboro Univ of PA (em)
trebor@velocity.net
http://www.velocity.net/~trebor