Chapter 11: Vibrations and Waves
Puzzles



1.  

"The Bungy Bucket"

Little Danny stands next to a large amusement park bungie bucket. The empty bucket is hanging on two large, identical springs. It oscillates with an amplitude of 2 meters and a period of 2 seconds. It is shown at the equilibrium position in the picture, 2.5 meters above the floor.

Danny waits until the bucket comes to a momentary stop, ready to start its journey upward. He quickly takes a seat in the bucket. Danny's mass is equal to the mass of the empty bucket.

What happens next?

Does the bucket take Danny for a ride?

(You can treat the two springs as a single spring with the spring constant k equal to twice the k of each single spring. In this estimate ignore the mass of the springs.)


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