Spring Constant?! HELP!?

Cars have springs and shock absorbers that dampen vibrations. If the suspension of a rear spring is responsible to absorb the change in potential energy as a car falls down into a pothole, find the spring constant of the rear spring. Assume the mass over the spring is 500 kg, the pothole is 5.0 cm deep and the spring compresses by 1.0 cm.



Please show all work so that I can understand everything! Thank youu!!
Spring Constant?! HELP!?
According to Hooke's Law:



F= -kx



Where F is the force experienced, k is the spring constant and x is the distance the spring is compressed.



F=ma

Therefore, -kx=ma

%26gt;%26gt; -k = (ma)/x



%26gt;%26gt; -k = (500kg*9.8m/s/s)/(-.01m) (9.8 m/s/s due to gravity)

%26gt;%26gt; k = 490000N/m

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