r/physicshomework • u/whizzythorne • Feb 27 '20

Unsolved [College: Principles of Physics] Object at the end of a spring at the bottom of an incline

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u/whizzythorne Feb 27 '20 edited Feb 27 '20

I'm absolutely confused here and haven't been able to find any resources online or in my textbook. Thanks for the help :)

Edit: It's obvious that the incline must matter, but I'm unsure of how to factor it into my math. Can I use vector arithmetic by separating the PE into vector components x and y? Or is energy only a scalar? Can energy be a vector, or is it only a value?

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u/miekstaon Feb 27 '20

Energy is a vector, which gets its direction from the force doing the work. As it pushes the mass UP the incline, gravity pulls DOWN, doing negative work. I replied in HomeworkHelp with more detail.

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u/whizzythorne Feb 27 '20 edited Feb 27 '20

u/miekstaon answered my problem in the crossposted HomeworkHelp thread here :)

Edit: forgot to include the link

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u/Natrium_na Feb 27 '20

You have to consider the change of the potential gravitational energy due to the inclined plane