Suppose a spring with spring constant 8 N/m is horizontal and has one end attached to a wall and the other end attached to a 2 kg mass. Suppose that the friction of the mass with the floor (i.e., the damping constant) is 8 N s/m.

a) Set up a differential equation that describes this system. Let xx denote the displacement, in meters, of the mass from its equilibrium position, and give your answer in terms of x, x′, x′′.x, x′, x″. Assume that positive displacement means the mass is farther from the wall than when the system is at equilibrium.

b) Find the general solution to your differential equation from the previous part.

c) Is this system under damped, over damped, or critically damped?

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