Question

A 15.0 kg box is attached to a very light horizontal spring (uncompressed) with a spring force constant 375 N/m and is resting on a smooth horizontal table. (See the figure below (Figure 1).) The box is hit by a 3.00 kg rock that is flying horizontally at 8.00 m/s to the right at the moment of the collision. After the collision, the rock rebounds at 2.00 m/s horizontally to the left. A) Find the maximum distance that the block will compress the spring after the collision. (Hint: Break this problem into two parts - the collision and the behavior after the collision - and apply the appropriate conservation law to each part.) Enter your answer using three significant figures.

Answer 1