When a car drives along a "washboard" road, the regular bumps cause the wheels to oscillate on the springs. (what actually oscillates is each axle assembly, comprising the axle and its two wheels.) find the speed of my car at which this oscillation resonates, given the following information:

(a) when four 80-kg men climb into my car, the body sinks by a couple of centimeters. use this to estimate the spring constant k of each of the four springs.
(b) if an axle assembly (axle plus two wheels) has total mass 50 kg, what is the natural frequency of the assembly oscillating on its two springs?
(c) if the bumps on a road are 80 cm apart, at about what speed would these oscillations go into resonance?

a) 40,000 N/m

b) f = 6.37 Hz

c) v = 4,8 m/s

Explanation:

part a)

First in order to estimate the spring constant k, we need to know the expression or formula to use in this case:

k = ΔF / Δx

Where:

ΔF: force that the men puts in the car, in this case, the weight.

Δx: the sinking of the car, which is 2 cm or 0.02 m.

With this data, and knowing that there are four mens, replace the data in the above formula:

W = 80 * 10 = 800 N

This is the weight for 1 man, so the 4 men together would be:

W = 800 * 4 = 3200 N

So, replacing this data in the formula:

k = 3200 / 0.02 = 160,000 N/m

This means that one spring will be:

k' = 160,000 / 4 = 40,000 N/m

b) An axle and two wheels has a mass of 50 kg, so we can assume they have a parallel connection to the car. If this is true, then:

k^n = 2k

To get the frequency, we need to know the angular speed of the car with the following expression:

wo = √k^n / M

M: mass of the wheel and axle, which is 50 kg

k = 40,000 N/m

Replacing the data:

wo = √2 * 40,000 / 50 = 40 rad/s

And the frequency:

f = wo/2π

f = 40 / 2π = 6.37 Hz

c) finally for the speed, we have the time and the distance, so:

V = x * t

The only way to hit bumps at this frequency, is covering the gaps of bumping, about 6 times per second so:

x: distance of 80 cm or 0.8 m

V = 0.8 * 6 =

V = 4.8 m/s

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