If mechanical energy is converted to thermal energy, then the spring would not compress as far as it would otherwise. This will cause the spring constant to be lower than it really is. a. True
b. False

False.

Explanation:

Given that if mechanical energy is converted to thermal energy, then the spring would not compress as far as it would otherwise. This will cause the spring constant to be lower than it really is.

This statement is false. Because if mechanical energy is converted to thermal energy, there will be distortions in the solid pattern of the spring. And this will make the spring to compress.

Also, no matter what may happen to the spring, the spring constant remains constant. That is, unchanged.

russian is not my first language, so i'm afraid i can't write out an answer in russian, but hopefully you can find a way to do so. here's my best translation of the problem: you're given a plot of a particle's position in one-dimensional space over time, and you're asked to find either the total distance traveled by the particle after 6 seconds had elapsed, or the total displacement of the particle after 6 seconds.

if you want the total distance traveled, you would first need to determine the particle's velocity as a function of time, then integrate that over the 6-second interval. we know the position function is quadratic with roots at 0 and 6, so we have

where is unknown. because the position is parabolic, there is symmetry about the midpoint at , and we know that

so that the position function is

which means the velocity is

then the total distance traveled is

so the total distance traveled is 20 m.

on the other hand, if you want to find displacement: the particle starts at and ends at , so its displacement is 0.