INTERACTIVE EXAMPLE
© Copyright, Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Springs and Collisions


Three blocks are resting on a frictionless surface. Two blocks, one of mass M1 = 5 kg and the other of M2 = 2 kg, are held together, compressing a massless spring. (The spring is not attached to the blocks--it has just been inserted between them.) When the constraints are removed, block 1 moves to the left with a velocity of 2 m/s. Block 2 moves to the right and collides with block 3, which has a mass of M3 = 5 kg. These blocks stick together. What is the magnitude of the final velocity of the two blocks?

v = m/s