Question

Two carts move toward each other on a 1D horizontal frictionless track. Cart one has Mass of 3.5 kg and Vi = 4 m/s. Cart 2 has mass of 8 kg and Vi = 0. A spring with spring content 300 between them makes the collision between the carts elastic.

1. What is the speed of block 1 (in the lab frame) when the spring is maximally compressed?

2 After the collision what is the velocity of cart 1 in the Lab Frame ?

Answer 1

The question pertains to a physics problem where two carts collide on a frictionless track, and one must use conservation of momentum and energy conservation to determine the velocity of cart 1 when a spring is maximally compressed and after the collision.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question involves analyzing a situation where two carts collide on a horizontal frictionless track. Two specific moments are considered: 1) When the spring between the two carts is maximally compressed, and 2) After the collision, determining the velocity of cart 1 in the lab frame. These scenarios involve understanding conservation of momentum and energy conservation principles in a physics context. When the spring is maximally compressed, the two carts momentarily move together, meaning their velocities are equal, as they exchange energy through the spring. After the collision, since it is specified to be elastic, both the total kinetic energy and momentum of the system are conserved. Thus, one would apply the conservation of momentum before and after collision equations, as well as consider kinetic energy conservation to solve for the velocities post-collision.