The energy of recoil of a rocket launcher of mass m = 4500 kg is absorbed in a recoil spring. At the end of the recoil, a damping dashpot is arranged in such a way that the launcher returns to the ** position without any oscillation (critical damping). The launcher recoils 3 m with an initial speed of 10 ms−1. Find (a) the recoil’ spring constant and (b) the dashpot’ coefficient of critical damping.
(a) We use the principle of conservation of energy for the rocket launcher and the recoil spring:
(b) The coefficient of critical damping is given by
[Since βx is force, β has the unit of Nsm–1].
