Question

You are trying to study for a physics exam, but your kids keep distracting you. You design a game where you can both play with your kids and study physics. You take two of your children’s blocks and place them on a table. Block 2 (mass = 0.3 kg) is at the edge of the table. Block 1 (mass = 0.2 kg) is held against a spring (spring constant = 500 N/m) that is compressed a distance of 0.08 m. After you let block 1 go from rest, it slides a distance of 0.6 m from the release point and then experiences a head-on collision with block 2. After the collision, block 1 stops and block 2 moves horizontally off the table. The goal of the game is to have block 2 land in a basket on the floor. The coefficient of kinetic friction between block 1 and the table is 0.3. 

A) Where should you place the basket on the floor? 

B)What is the speed of block 2 when it lands in the basket?

C)Determine the speed of block 2 when it hits the basket using kinematics

   - What is the y component of block 2's velocity when it hits the ground?

- What is the speed of block 2 when it hits the ground?

- Does your answer to this follow up agree with you original answer?

D) Suppose you increase the initial compression distance of the spring to some value greater than 0.08 m and then released block 1. Would block 2 spend more time in the air, less time, or the same amount of time?

Answer 1