Question

Old-fashioned pocket watches needed to be wound daily so they wouldn’t run down and lose time, due to the friction in the internal components. This required a large number of turns of the winding key, but not much force per turn, and it was possible to overwind and break the watch. How was the energy stored?

  1. A small mass raised a long distance

  2. A large mass raised a short distance

  3. A weak spring deformed a long way

  4. A strong spring deformed a short way

Question by OpenStax is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Final Answer

(c)

Solution video

OpenStax College Physics for AP® Courses, Chapter 7, Problem 29 (Test Prep for AP® Courses)

OpenStax College Physics, Chapter 7, Problem 29 (AP) video thumbnail

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Video Transcript
This is College Physics Answers with Shaun Dychko. Since the watch requires a large number of turns that means that the spring is going to be deformed a long way and since it's possible to break the watch spring, that means that the spring must be weak. So the answer is C.