A baby weighing $8$ pounds compresses the spring of a baby scale 5 millimeters. Use Hooke s Law to determine the weight of a baby that compresses the spring $4$ millimeters. Round your answer to one decimal place.
A) $5.8$ pounds
B) $7.4$ pounds
C) $7.2$ pounds
D) $5.2$ pounds
E) $6.4$ pounds

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Hooke's Law states that the force needed to compress or extend a spring by some distance is proportional to that distance. Given that an 8-pound baby compresses the spring 5 millimeters, we can set up a proportion to find the weight of a baby that compresses the spring 4 millimeters: $8 \text{ pounds} / 5 \text{ mm} = x \text{ pounds} / 4 \text{ mm}$. Solving for $x$ gives $x = (8 \times 4) / 5 = 32 / 5 = 6.4$ pounds.

A Baby Weighing 888 Pounds Compresses the Spring of a Baby Scale 5 Millimeters

A Baby Weighing $8$ Pounds Compresses the Spring of a Baby Scale 5 Millimeters