Final answer:
To find the contact force on a 3.4 kg block by a 7.3 kg block on a frictionless surface, apply Newton's Second Law for the total system's acceleration and then for the specific force on the 3.4 kg block.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question concerns Newton's Second Law of Motion and contact forces between two blocks sliding across a frictionless surface. To find the force exerted on a block with mass 3.4 kg by a block with mass 7.3 kg, one must apply Newton's Second Law (F=ma) and consider that both blocks move together as a single system if they are in contact and no external horizontal forces act on the 3.4 kg block except for the contact force exerted by the 7.3 kg block. The acceleration for the system can be found by dividing the net external force (the sum of the forces acting on the 7.3 kg block) by the total mass of the system. Once the acceleration is found, it can be used to calculate the contact force on the 3.4 kg block using the same law (F=ma).