Truck suspensions often have "helper springs" that engage at high loads. One such arrangement is a leaf spring with a helper coil spring mounted on the axle, as shown in the figure below. When the main leaf spring is compressed by distance y0, the helper spring engages and then helps to support any additional load. Suppose the leaf spring constant is 5.50 ✕ 105 N/m, the helper spring constant is 3.40 ✕ 105 N/m, and y0 = 0.500 m. A side view of a truck suspension. The truck body is above the wheel. The main leaf spring spans the horizontal width of the wheel and is attached at both ends to the truck body. The "helper" spring is aligned vertically with its lower end attached to the axle and the upper end unattached. The upper end is a distance y0 from the truck body. (a) What is the compression of the leaf spring for a load of 5.50 ✕ 105 N? (b) How much work is done in compressing the springs?

Truck suspensions often have "helper springs" that engage at high loads. One such arrangement is a leaf spring with a helper coil spring mounted on the axle, as shown in the figure below. When the main leaf spring is compressed by distance y0, the helper spring engages and then helps to support any additional load. Suppose the leaf spring constant is 5.50 ✕ 105 N/m, the helper spring constant is 3.40 ✕ 105 N/m, and y0 = 0.500 m. A side view of a truck suspension. The truck body is above the wheel. The main leaf spring spans the horizontal width of the wheel and is attached at both ends to the truck body. The "helper" spring is aligned vertically with its lower end attached to the axle and the upper end unattached. The upper end is a distance y0 from the truck body. (a) What is the compression of the leaf spring for a load of 5.50 ✕ 105 N? (b) How much work is done in compressing the springs?