Our third goal today is to think about how springs fit into a work and energy framework.

Questions to consider include:

• Let's say you do some work to compress or stretch a string. Where does the energy go?
• Consider the graph of force vs. distance you drew previously. Does this graph have any connection with work and/or energy?
• Can you come up with an equation for the energy stored in a compressed or stretched string?

  Resources to investigate these questions include:

  1. The various springs and spring scales we have to work with
  2. The Vernier software, such as by using a force sensor to measure force applied
  3. The "Mass and Spring" simulation from the Phet simulation site