Can you shed light on this ...

Take one clock spring and wind it up, thereby storing potential energy in the spring.

Drop the spring into a bath of acid that will dissolve the metal of the spring.

Where does the stored energy go

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SooperSarah

It'll unwind in the acid, even if it's just little bits at a time

ozgirl512 · 26-30, F

@SooperSarah I'm suggesting it's held in such a way it can't unwind

sarabee1995 · 26-30, F

@SooperSarah Yes! More than likely as the metal is weakened by the acid, it will at some point break and unwind. At that point the potential energy is released as kinetic, heat, and sound energy.

SooperSarah

@ozgirl512 as it dissolves there will not be enough material to maintain the tension in the spring.

SooperSarah

@sarabee1995 yay physics!

ozgirl512 · 26-30, F

@SooperSarah ok.... Imagine the spring, once wound, is embedded in an acid resistance wax so it can't unwind... The side in introduced through a small hole in the wax... Now back to the question 😜

sarabee1995 · 26-30, F

@ozgirl512 Same answer. At some point the spring will dissolve to the point that it loses its structural integrity.

In your new scenario, the potential energy is now partially released into the wax as it deforms to accept some of the springs energy. The rest, again, kinetic, sound, and heat energy.

ozgirl512 · 26-30, F

@sarabee1995 I've heard this response before and I'm not saying you're wrong, but it doesn't satisfy me... And nope, I'm not looking at some energy black hole or unknown force lol...i just an issue with a tensioned spring acting different if dissolved in acid... If that makes any sense

sarabee1995 · 26-30, F

@ozgirl512 And ... If you truly mount it into some mechanism that prevents any unwinding at all, even microscopically, then you have infact already offloaded the potential energy from the spring into the mount before introducing the acid.

sarabee1995 · 26-30, F

@ozgirl512 But it doesn't act differently. It [b]WILL[/b] release it's energy into it's environment... whether that is wax, acid, air, or some other mount.

ozgirl512 · 26-30, F

@sarabee1995 nah, i don't see that...i can drop a wound spring into a hole in a block of wood, then remove it and it's still going to be wound

ozgirl512 · 26-30, F

@sarabee1995 maybe you're right ...i honestly don't know... But it was fun arguing lol 😘

KiwiBird · 36-40, F

@ozgirl512 Unless you drop it into a board. Where do you think Spring-Boards come from?

sarabee1995 · 26-30, F

@ozgirl512 Energy is always conserved. There must be some release within the system. My ideas were just guesses, but it will be released somehow. 🙂

ozgirl512 · 26-30, F

@KiwiBird see, this is what i mean.
Cut straight through so the bs and straight to the correct answer 😘

ozgirl512 · 26-30, F

@sarabee1995 i agree.... My problem comes from this simple question ... Why should a spring under tension behave differently in an acid solution than an un tensioned one?
Why should the chemical reaction make more heat? Or noise?

sarabee1995 · 26-30, F

@ozgirl512 I would argue that it doesn't. As the acid breaks down the molecular bonds between the molecules, the stored energy is released. The amount of that energy depends on the state of the spring, but both springs behave the same.

ozgirl512 · 26-30, F

@sarabee1995 then we're back to my original question lol... If both Springs behave the same, c where did the energy go?🤣

sarabee1995 · 26-30, F

@ozgirl512 The released potential energy is converted to heat energy, sound energy, and kinetic energy just as discussed.